Boku Inc. CEO, Jon Prideaux, joins DirectorsTalk to discuss results for the year ended 31st December 2019. Jon explains the trends he is seeing during the impact of COVID-19, talks us through the highlights of 2019 and what we can look forward to during 2020.
Edison Interview – Full Year Results 2019
In this audio interview, Jon Prideaux, Boku’s CEO, discusses highlights from the 2019 results including the impact of Covid-19 on the company.
BRR Interview – Full Year Results 2019
In this video interview, Jon Prideaux , CEO of Boku, discusses the 2019 results plus the impact Covid-19 has had on the company.
Boku Built for Resiliency Against COVID-19
Jon Prideaux, Chief Executive Officer
19 March 2020 – We are in trying times. In addition to the global health crisis, the coronavirus is wreaking havoc in the business world. Many sectors and industries are in life or death struggles as they try to cope with a cashflow crisis caused by fractured supply chains and plunging demand.
Amidst all this chaos Boku, through a combination of good luck and good design, finds itself in a strong position. Boku’s partners, users and suppliers can be reassured that we will be able to continue to deliver uninterrupted service.
Uninterrupted Supply Chains
Boku’s services are consumed and distributed digitally; we are resistant to physical supply chain disruption. Our merchants from the digital ecosystem share the same characteristics allowing them to operate without interruption and to scale as the market demands.
Changes in Consumer Behavior & Demand
Some industries are dependent on close and physical interaction with their customers. For others, their business model involves large groups of people gathering in the same place. Sectors such as airlines, entertainment, hotels, tourism, and restaurants are all threatened by the restrictions put in place to control the pandemic. Read full post
Coronavirus: Changing Behaviour As People Confined to Their Homes
Jon Prideaux, Chief Executive Officer
The arrival of the coronavirus has seen whole cities and countries shut down with billions of people across the world now confined to their homes. Instead of spending their day to day lives in the face to face environment, consumers have had their daily activities (schooling, work, commerce and entertainment) directed towards the digital space.
This change has destabilised the global economy and had particularly shocking impacts on the travel, tourism, hospitality and entertainment industries while putting increased strain on global supply chains. For instance:
- Hong Kong has seen a 96% drop in arrivals since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.1
- The outbreak has cost US cruise lines nearly $750 million since January and shares of Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean have dropped 60% to 70%.2
- The International Air Transport Association has predicted that global airline revenue losses would probably top $113 billion.3
However, when people aren’t traveling, they’re in their homes. And this has caused an increase in demand for digital commerce (both digital goods and physical goods ordered from the digital domain). Amazon in the US is hiring 100,000 extra workers 4. Read full post
Boku Partners with Pearl Abyss to Extend Mobile Payments and eWallets Globally
Anyang & San Francisco, CA: Boku (AIM: BOKU), the world’s leading independent carrier commerce company, is pleased to announce a multi-country launch of Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) and eWallet payment services for Pearl Abyss Corp (“Pearl Abyss”), the Korean game developer, best known for the open-world MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) Black Desert.
The launch countries include Russia, Turkey, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore and alongside carrier billing will also include local eWallet payment services such as RabbitLinePay, GrabPay, GCash, GoPay and OVO.
Commenting, Kevin Kim, CBO, Pearl Abyss said: “Not everyone possesses a credit card or feels comfortable providing their credit card details for online purchases. However, almost everyone owns a mobile device which can be used for online payments, that is why Boku’s ‘Mobile First’ payment services via direct carrier billing and eWallet billing appeal to us. The secure, intuitive, easy-to-use and low-friction checkout experience will result in higher customer satisfaction, conversion, and retention. Pearl Abyss is looking forward to a successful partnership with Boku, in particular as we roll out our new and exciting Black Desert game offerings.” Read full post
Boku CEO On Digital Content’s New Tailwind
On Dec. 1, 2019, there was no shortage of predictions about which stories would drive payments, commerce and the global financial ecosystem. Trade disputes, the connected economy, new banks, cryptocurrency, mobile wallets, instant payments, trade disputes, mergers and acquisitions, biometrics, synthetic identity fraud — we could literally go on and on. As is customary in the last few weeks of a year — particularly one that caps off a busy decade — everyone takes to the web to promote their favorite prediction for what will come out of the gate in the new year to start shaping the epoch.
But as it turns out, 2019-2020 will go down in the record books as one of those years where everyone got it wrong — because a black swan showed up.
What no one predicted, or possibly could have, was that a novel coronavirus called COVID-19 would appear out of the ether, break containment in China and, in a little under 10 weeks, infect nearly 100,000 people worldwide, shut down the global supply chains and send the stock market through the floor in its worst week since the Great Recession.
It’s a situation, as Boku CEO Jon Prideaux told Karen Webster, where fear of the unknown is starting to outweigh every other concern people have — and is impacting behaviors and choices in ways rational and irrational. Read full post
What’s driving Boku’s strong start to the year?
Listen to the latest DirectorsTalk Interviews with Boku CEO, Jon Prideaux highlighting increasing total payment volume and monthly active users using the platform.
Boku Inc. Partners With AWA Co. LTD.
Leading Japanese music streaming platform enlists mobile carrier commerce company to grow subscriber base across desktop and mobile devices
Tokyo & San Francisco, CA – February, 24 2020– Boku Inc. (AIM: BOKU), the world’s leading independent carrier commerce company, celebrates the successful preferred partnership with AWA Co. Ltd., to allow AWA’s Japanese customers to charge their recurring monthly subscription fees directly to their mobile phone bills via direct carrier billing.
Through the agreement, Boku offers direct carrier billing as a payment mechanism available to AWA’s customer base via AWA’s website and mobile application. Boku’s support for tokenized payments and subscription management capabilities allow AWA’s customers to seamlessly graduate from a free trial promotion to a paid subscription while reducing the operational burden many companies face in building out native subscription management engines.
The partnership reflects the growing trend of Japanese consumers using direct carrier billing to purchase digital goods and services through online channels.
“Japan is one of the most sophisticated markets worldwide in their adoption and embrace of mobile payments, and AWA Co. Read full post
BRR Interview – Trading statement
Jon Prideaux and Keith Butcher, CEO and CFO respectively of Boku, talk about the highlights of trading for the year ended 31 December 2019, which saw over 41% growth in revenues to between $50.0m and $50.5m, with EBITDA from Boku payments up 138% to at least $15.0m, and losses reduced on Boku Identity to $5.0m.