BOKU Expands Mobile Payments Offering with MasterCard Prepaid and PayPass

The FINANCIAL — MasterCard and BOKU,one of a leading global provider of on-line mobile payments, announced a partnership that will enhance the shopping experience for consumers by allowing them to make payments, receive discounts and targeted offers via their mobile phones anywhere MasterCard is accepted.

According to MasterCard Worldwide, offered through a mobile subscriber’s mobile network operator BOKU Accounts with MasterCard Prepaid gives consumers a convenient way to pay while on the go. Account holders use a MasterCard Prepaid card or PayPass-enabled device to make purchases anywhere MasterCard is accepted with a simple swipe or tap.

“For more than a decade, MasterCard has pioneered technology that’s turned mobile phones into devices for making safe, easy payments across a global network,” said Mung Ki Woo, Group Executive, Mobile at MasterCard. “This partnership with BOKU gives MNO customers the power and convenience of MasterCard mobile prepaid with PayPass to make purchases in stores or on-line at millions of merchants worldwide with their mobile phones or companion cards.”

BOKU Accounts enables merchants to create easy-to-manage loyalty programs as well as targeted offers to reach customers through mobile apps, SMS text messages, push notifications or e-mails. The platform also offers consumers real-time visibility into spending and budgets tied to their account. The online campaign management system of the BOKU Accounts platform also provides merchants with sophisticated analytics so they can manage and modify these offer programs over time to maximize consumer reach and repeat business.

“BOKU Accounts brings together the best parts of mobile payments and technology, leveraging NFC, smartphones and global payment networks for a better consumer experience, using the device in your pocket to improve every transaction you make, anywhere in the world,” said Ron Hirson, BOKU President. “Working with MasterCard gives our MNO partners confidence that their subscribers can make a payment anywhere MasterCard is accepted.”

The BOKU Accounts MasterCard Prepaid card is issued by IDT, which is a regulated bank, licensed by the Financial Services Commission, Gibraltar, under the Banking Act 1992, pursuant to a license from MasterCard International Incorporated. Issuing banks will vary based on geographic region.