LONDON: Boku Inc, an independent carrier commerce company, announced a preferred partnership agreement 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 allows 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.

Commenting, Tetsutaro Ono, CEO, AWA Co. Ltd. said “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.”

Jon Prideaux, CEO, Boku, commented: “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.

“We are thrilled to help AWA on their mission to bring music to the masses and look forward to collaborating with them more in the future.”