Commerce group Boku (AIM:BOKU) told investors on Monday that it had entered into a preferred partnership agreement with Japanese music streaming platform, AWA Co.
AWA, which was released as a subscription music distribution service in May 2015 and is provided by AWA Inc., a joint investment between CyberAgent and Avex Digital Inc., enlisted Boku as a provider with the intention of boosting its subscribers across desktop and mobile devices.
Under the agreement, Boku will offer direct carrier billing as a payment option available to AWA’s customer base via its website and mobile app.
Boku’s advocacy for the group’s tokenized payment and subscription capabilities will streamline the process of customers graduating from a free trial promotion to a paid subscription, the company explained.
The company says the collaboration is likely to reduce the operational burden many companies face in building out native subscription management engines.
Shares in Boku were trading 1.42% higher at 71.5p during Monday trading.
"Boku has proven to be a trusted partner for us, not only helping AWA ensure that we are able to continue to acquire new paying users, but also in ensuring that our existing customers enjoy a convenient and reliable billing experience,” said Tetsutaro Ono, Chief Executive of AWA Co.
The company believes the partnership reflects a 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 leads the charge in making payments as frictionless as possible for their customers,” added Jon Prideaux, CEO of Boku.
Boku's technology platform is used in over 59 countries with over 815 million verified transactions in 2019, contributing $5 billion to the digital economy.
The Boku platform is currently employed by a range of global companies including, but not limited to, Apple, Facebook, Google and Spotify.
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