Boku, the global leader in online mobile payments, announced today that it has launched direct carrier billing with French carriers Bouygues Telecom and SFR, a subsidiary of Vivendi, adding to existing direct billing with Orange France.
The partnership offers over an additional 32 million French customers the ability to pay for digital goods and services using only their existing wireless service account, with the charge appearing on their carrier bill. With this agreement, nearly all mobile users in France will benefit from BOKU direct carrier billing.
Bouygues Telecom and SFR are launching a new service enabling consumers to purchase goods online and use BOKU to pay with their mobile phone number. That service, Internet + Mobile allows a fully integrated 2-click purchase process that results in higher payouts and gives online merchants access to a full range of price points of up to 10 Euros.
"France accounts for more than 50 Million mobile subscribers and has one of the most advanced online markets in the world," said Mark Britto, CEO of BOKU. "France is already one of BOKU's top ten markets, and these new connections will undoubtedly keep them in that category and growing fast."
Virtually all mobile customers in France can now pay for online content and virtual goods from participating merchants using the BOKU mobile payments service. A direct connection between the French carriers and BOKU provides value-added service to online consumers and merchants, including a secure payment mechanism that is convenient and easy to use, and that provides an alternative payment method for consumers, particularly those with limited access to credit or debit cards.
MovieStarPlanet is one merchant already taking advantage of the direct carrier billing relationship with SFR and Bouygues Telecom. "Purchasing Starcoins is now even easier with this partnership powering a safe, secure and convenient direct carrier billing option," said MovieStarPlanet's CEO Claus Lykke Jensen. "User feedback and increased revenue clearly indicate how much people love the convenience of BOKU to pay via their mobile number. This new partnership will extend that convenience to many more loyal gamers in France."