Boku Presents Direct Carrier Billing With Major Carriers in Taiwan

Boku, a global player in carrier billing-based mobile payments, has launched direct carrier billing with the top five carriers in Taiwan: Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone, Taiwan Mobile, Asia Pacific Telecom, and Taiwan Star.

The partnerships offer cross-platform carrier billing capabilities to over 32 million mobile subscribers in Taiwan who will now have the ability to pay for digital goods and services using only their mobile phone account, with the charges appearing on their mobile phone bill. With these five new partnerships, Boku continues to expand its footprint across Asia, which already covers more than one billion mobile consumers across the region.

Consumers in Taiwan can make purchases from Boku’s global network of merchant partners that includes Facebook, among many others. Taiwan boasts the highest Facebook penetration rate of any market in the world, at over 65% as of 2014, with approximately 15 million active users per month.

With a mobile penetration rate that exceeds 100%, Taiwan is an ideal market for Boku’s carrier billing-based mobile payments, which provide a secure and easy to use alternative payment method for consumers, particularly those with limited access to credit or debit cards.

"The market potential in Taiwan cannot be overstated,” said Kurt Davis, Managing Director for Boku in Asia. “This market has long been one of our top priorities, but we knew that we needed full coverage to truly drive widespread adoption for carrier billing. This is why we aggressively pursued agreements with all five of the top mobile operators. We’re looking forward to helping our existing and prospective merchant customers unlock this important market for carrier billing.”

Boku is reaching out to more than 4 billion consumers in more than 70 countries. Its bank-grade payments technology allows consumers to charge purchases to their mobile phone bill. The company is partnering with global merchants including Facebook, Sony, Spotify, Electronic Arts, Wargaming, and many more.