Convenience, Enablement, and Advanced Functionality

Feb 13, 2012

The value of mobile payments boils down to three key elements for consumers:
convenience, enablement, and advanced functionality.

Convenience

Above all else, convenience is key. By giving consumers an exceedingly simple method of charging goods and services using their mobile number, carrier billing increases the convenience of the purchasingprocess. Friction decreases conversion and frequently users abandon their carts due to the hassles and roadblocks of other payment methods.

Enablement

The penetration of mobile phones (pre and post paid) relative to that of credit and debit cards has a profound impact on consumer behavior across the globe. If a consumer lives in a country where the population is largely unbanked, but have access to a mobile device, a banked solution for many purchases may not be necessary:

All that is needed is a mobile phone, which five billion people globally alreadyhave.
You do not need to be one of the comparatively smaller group of two billion people who owns a credit card.
You do not need a bank account, a line of credit, a debit card, or cash.

In short, mobile payments give credit card-like purchasing convenience to anyone with a mobile phone.

Advanced Functionality

This is where the true potential of mobile payments is unlocked. As Ron Hirson, President and Co-Founder of BOKU, pointed out in a guest post on VentureBeat, performing a transaction via a NFC enabled smartphone housing a processor, a world of apps, a GPS unit, all connected to the internet, gives the consumer access to a wealth of advanced functionality completely unmatched by either cash or credit transactions.

BOKU BEER LAUNCH

Feb 1, 2012

Not to be outdone by the Wine Club, Ace Ellett spearheaded the BOKU Beer Launch.

That’s right…BOKU beer is here! Our hero, the “BEER DELIVERY GUY” (easily recognized in the wild by the huge upper case orange lettering on a black jacket), arrived last week with a surprise for the team.

Kegerator? Check!

Kegs o’ beer? Check!

Earth friendly biodegradable beer cups? Check!

Awe-inspired employee gazing upon its magnificence? Check!

The wine club, which meets Fridays, is now fair and balanced with the Beer Club. We are confident that this new office edition will increase productivity, raise morale and ultimately cause us to sign even more partner deals. That’s the magic of beer. When asked for comment, BOKU CEO and Chief Beer Taster in Residence (CBTIR) Mark Britto said, “I’m busy.”

Getting Direct About Mobile Payments

Jan 26, 2012

Mobile payments is a phrase carriers, merchants, and consumers alike are hearing more each day. From buzzy topics like NFC to daily news stories on the wallet-less future, it seems that everyone is preparing themselves for aGetting Direct About Mobile Payments future where a mobile phone will become a huge part of the consumer’s purchasing experience. Some types of mobile payments include:

Apps, in-app, and mobile browser purchases
- Using a mobile browser for e-commerce (using Safari browser on iPhone for purchases on Amazon)
- Purchasing an app (downloading Angry Birds through the app store)
- In-app purchases (purchasing the Mighty Eagle while playing Angry Birds)
Physical world purchases
- Using a mobile phone at point of sale using NFC tap
Carrier billing using phone as funding source (Use BOKU to check-out using your phone-number, and charge against your pre- or post-paid mobile phone bill)
Sending money to a friend using phone (e.g. – a company called M-Pesa in Kenya allows users to send money from family member to family member)

To focus the conversation for purposes of this article, we’ll be focusing on direct carrier billing, which is one of the mobile payments solutions we provide at BOKU.

Cash, debit, credit, or mobile phone number?

When looking at mobile payment transactions, there is a distinction that can be made between where the purchase is made and how. For most consumer goods, the “where” is either a physical brick and mortar store or a website. “How” the charge is made is usually against a credit card, a debit card, or cash / cash equivalent (e.g. – a general purpose reloadable (GPR) card).

With direct carrier billing, the funding source for the transaction does not change – it’s still cash, debit, or credit. “How” the charge is made, however, changes significantly. BOKU charges against a person’s mobile phone bill allowing the consumer’s mobile phone number to become a unique type of payment instrument. This helps to solve a big challenge in the payments space – enabling a population of underserved consumers lacking banking services and card-type payment instruments to participate in online purchases. In addition, BOKU reassures the safety-conscious consumer who prefers not to enter in sensitive billing information such as personal data and payment card details to purchase with peace of mind through a safer 2-step authorization process. And, the simple checkout experience makes charging to a carrier phone bill more convenient than other methods, appealing to many people as the best option for checking out quickly.

The future mobile consumer experience encompasses many mobile payment methods. Using a mobile number to transact and charging to a carrier bill is a profound shift in the purchasing experience and taps into a tremendous market opportunity that is unreachable through many of the current payment methods. Though there are limitations in “where” this type of mobile payments can take place today, in the near future, BOKU believes a direct carrier billing transaction will be able to take place anywhere, whether it’s online, peer-to-peer, or at brick and mortar stores.

BOKU Featured on Sky News

Dec 21, 2011

BOKU was recently featured on Sky News, the 24-hour British and international satellite television news station. For non-Brits and those unfamiliar with the station, Sky News places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. The piece features an interview with President of BOKU, Ron Hirson, and Chairman of First Tuesday UK, Christer Holloman, as part of a series called ‘Tech Talk in Silicon Valley.’ See the video below.

Survey Says: Mobile Billing Most Important Payment Method

Dec 16, 2011

At MEF Global 2011, a mobile content and commerce event in London put on by the Mobile Entertainment Forum, a new study was released based on survey results from more than 8,000 mobile consumers across 9 countries. MEF’s Global Consumer Survey explored the means and motivation for consumers to use their mobile for a variety of services, from retail to banking. As they state in the study foreword, their findings show that consumers are embracing mobile commerce globally, across both developed and developing markets. As many as 82% of respondents across all countries surveyed have used their mobile phone to engage in commerce, to either research or purchase items, while 71% have used their mobile phone to make purchases of everything from virtual and digital goods to physical tickets, books, and electronic goods.

Of course, that data applies to the whole of mobile commerce (any purchase made using a mobile device), but what about direct carrier billing? The MEF data shows that mobile operator billing is, in fact, the most commonly used way of paying for purchases, with roughly 39% of respondents using this method. This compares with just 21% who prefer using credit cards and 20% who use an online payment service.

A factor that likely plays heavily into this result is their finding that a substantial portion of respondents don’t have access to banking services. The chart below shows respondents from each participating country that fall into this category.

The study further drills down on the data country by country. Interestingly, out of 9 countries surveyed, only Singapore used a credit card more than mobile payments which is attributable to a credit card payment domination in that local market.

Alternatively, South Africa showed the greatest use of billing directly to the mobile phone bill as compared to other forms of payment. Even in the United States, one of the most highly carded markets, billing directly to your carrier bill was the dominant method of payment in this survey.

To sum up, what have we learned?

1. By and large, consumers are engaging in mobile commerce and purchasing goods through mobile payments.

2. In 8 of the 9 countries surveyed, including both developed and developing countries, mobile operator billing is the dominant method of mobile payment.

3. Empirical data shows that mobile payments continue to be the payment method of choice and BOKU is well positioned to capitalize on this trend.

With connections across 240+ carriers in 66 countries, BOKU is proud to be leading the charge on delivering bank-grade mobile payment solutions via operator billing. We are uniquely positioned to offer merchant partners single-point integration to an extensive mobile payments network and the opportunity to participate in mobile commerce on a global scale.

* Source: MEF Global Consumer Survey 2011. Base = 8,530 respondents across 9 countries who have participated in mobile commerce.

Forbes: BOKU is America’s #2 Most Promising Company

Dec 2, 2011

Forbes Magazine has named BOKU the #2 most promising company in America. On
November 30th, Forbes announced BOKU’s placement on the prestigious list and we are honored to have made the cut.

According to the article: ”The companies on our AMPC list hail from 22 industries, with software-and-services taking the biggest slice (35%). Some fast facts: 90 have raised outside capital; 70 have a CEO who is also one of the founders; 12 have one younger than 35 years old; 7 have yet to generate revenue; and one sells a burger topped with pastrami.”

Forbes has an innovative way of ranking promising companies using variables in their equation that take a comprehensive approach to evaluate a business’ health…or potential. To help in their search, Forbes teamed up with CB Insights, a New York City-based data firm that tracks investment in high-growth private companies. Forbes then combined CB Insights’ data with their own internal data gathered from the companies to come up with a list of companies with big growth potential.

Through its software, Mosaic, CB Insights mined data from 30,000 sources (press releases, social networks, job boards and court filings) to come up with a score for each company’s potential. Then voila, rankings. Other incredible and interesting companies to make the list include: SecondMarket, Box and Evernote.

Many thanks for everyone at Forbes for selecting us, our investors for helping us realize our potential and the BOKU team for making our vision a reality.

It’s Just Science: Twice as Many People Prefer Operator Billing to Credit Cards

Oct 12, 2011

A survey of 2500 wireless device owners* by Strategy Analytics recently found that consumers prefer operator billing for mobile content purchasing. We’ve known this for some time based on internal studies but now Strategy Analytics is backing us up with their own independent research. According to a report released in December, consumers in the United States and Western Europe prefer to pay for content via operator billing to traditional credit card payment systems.

When paying for mobile content, 40% of survey respondents claimed an interest in paying via operator billing. That’s compared to 20% of respondents who voiced an interest in paying with a traditional credit card. That translates into twice as many people preferring the operator billing option to traditional credit cards.

The market research report went on to say that consumers prefer to pay for mobile content outright versus paying a monthly fee for access. The partiality for purchasing content was high across all age groups in both the United States and Western Europe and across users of all types of devices (Apple, Android, RIM, etc).

So what have we learned?

1 . Consumers are twice as interested in operator billing as using traditional credit/debit cards.

2. Consumers prefer to pay outright for content rather than pay monthly fees.

3. BOKU is uniquely positioned to give consumers the payment option they prefer.

The data shows that mobile payments are poised to gain even greater traction amongst Western European and US consumers, which means more transactions and higher revenue for BOKU and our partners.

With connections across 240+ carriers in 66 counties, merchants around the world can increase conversion rates and drive increased revenue. We have the infrastructure and now you have the data. Consumers prefer carrier billing. Let us know how we can help get you started.

* In August 2010 Strategy Analytics surveyed 1500 wireless device owners in Western Europe, and a 1000 in the US via web survey.

BlueVia Launches a Global Payment API with BOKU

Aug 29, 2011

More big news for merchants and developers! Today, BOKU announced a partnership with Telefónica’s BlueVia (one of the largest carriers in the world with ~300MM subscribers) allowing developers and merchants to link in-app payments to mobile operator bills without additional authentication. Translation: Easier integration, shorter transaction times, higher conversion rates.

Our goal is to provide developers the opportunity to greatly expand their revenue through in-app purchases. In-app purchases help create a seamless experience so that the customer never needs to leave the game or app in order to complete a transaction. Upon integration, this agreement allows purchasing with no need to collect credit cards, financial information, user login, or registration through a third-party website.

Together, BOKU & BlueVia’s goal is to increase conversion rates to merchants while providing a seamless and secure purchase experience. Special thanks to all the engineers and their enduring families for making it all possible.

Also, since the news broke this morning, a couple of folks in the press have picked up the story and run with it, including mocoNews.net and AllThingsD. If you want to read our official press release, you can see it here.

Below is a short video introduces the new BlueVia billing API which allows developers to link in-app payments to the mobile bill of Telefonica customers. From today, you can go to the BlueVia website and access the Payment API: bluevia.com/en/knowledge/APIs.API-Guides.Payment

Introducing the new BOKU Payment API from BlueVia on Vimeo.

AlwaysOn Names BOKU Global 250 Top Private Company

Jul 14, 2011

Each year, AlwaysOn searches for the most compelling, exciting, and high-growth technology companies in the marketplace. The Global 250 represents the top emerging companies in the Global Silicon Valley that are demonstrating significant market traction and pursuing game-changing technologies in digital media, mobile, social media, cloud and SaaS computing. This year BOKU was selected as an AO Global 250 company in the category of “Mobile.”

BOKU was selected from thousands of other U.S. and internationally based private companies by AlwaysOn and researchers from Morgan Stanley, the Blackstone Group, KPMG, Silicon Valley Bank, DCM, Greycroft, the Bridge Bank and many other industry experts from across the globe. Tony Perkins, founder and editor of AlwaysOn said, “This year’s winners clearly represent some of the highest growth opporutnities we’ve seen in the private company marketplace in the history of the Global Silicon Valley.”

Many thanks to the AlwaysOn Editorial Team and their many partners for recognizing our hard work, determination and innovative approach to making mobile payments simple and easy to use for over 3 billion customers in 66 countries across more than 230 operators.

BOKU™ 1-Tap™ Billing for Android is Now Live in 56 Countries

Jun 30, 2011

Big news for BOKU! Big news for Android developers who want to make some dough. Today, BOKU announced the production release of our SDK for Android developers; 1-Tap Billing for Android is live in 56 countries.

This SDK opens up significantly expanded revenue opportunities to Android developers via direct carrier billing for in-app purchases. BOKU’s Android SDK provides users with a simple 1-Tap purchase process that does not require the collection of personally identifiable information.

The goal here is to provide Android developers the opportunity to massively expand their revenue through in-app purchases. In-app purchases help create a seamless experience so that the customer never needs to leave the game or app in order to complete a transaction. Once integrated, BOKU’s Android SDK provides users with a simple 1-Tap purchase process that does not require the collection of credit cards, financial information, user login, or registration through a third-party website.

Upon integration, the SDK is immediately available to the application’s consumer base in 56 countries with no need for additional work on the part of the app developer – This includes more than 32 different languages and 40 different currencies. The SDK supports Android version 1.5+.

All these new features help to increase conversion rates to merchants while providing a seamless and secure purchase experience. Special thanks to all the engineers and their enduring families for making it all possible.

Also, since the news broke this morning, a couple of folks in the press have picked up the story and run with it, including VentureBeat, ReadWriteWeb, Fierce Mobile, Inside Networks, and even the GSMA. A couple stories have syndicated onto to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal as well. If you want to read our official press release, you can see it here.

Thanks!

The BOKU Team

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