Fortumo launch direct carrier billing in Myanmar

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12 August 2020 

Boku, Inc.

("Boku" or the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

Fortumo launch direct carrier billing in Myanmar

Boku, a leading global mobile payment and mobile identity company, is pleased to announce that its recently aquired subsidiary, Fortumo, has launched a direct carrier billing partnership with Myanmar mobile operator Mytel. Mytel subscribers can now pay for games, in-app content and digital services by charging purchases to their postpaid phone bill or prepaid SIM card.

Fortumo's Hosted DCB and Web SDK solutions make it easy for digital service providers to launch direct carrier billing in a scalable manner. Fortumo manages the checkout flow and localisation on behalf of its merchants, accelerating the time-to-market and reducing the amount of development work needed to launch the payment method. The same integration can be used to collect payments from Mytel and more than 280 other mobile operators across the world connected to Fortumo's platform.

In Myanmar, less than 1% of people have a credit card, while over 80% of people own a smartphone. This creates a problem for digital merchants: while most people can access online content, the vast majority are unable to pay for premium services. Carrier billing solves this for digital merchants by allowing any user to charge online payments to their phone bill. Carrier billing does not require users to create any account and no personal data is collected during the checkout process: payments are instead completed through a simple 2-step verification process.

In Asia, Fortumo recently announced launching direct carrier billing on Google Play for Tune Talk in Malaysia and Ufone in Pakistan.

Dr. Nilar Aye, Chief External Relations Officer at Mytel, commented: "Given Fortumo's partnership with strong merchants, and premium services, we are pleased to cooperate. Fortumo's technical prowess made the integration process smooth, and further enhanced our trust in them. We are excited to bring another top-tier access to premium services to our customers."

Taavi Krusell, VP of Telco Partnerships at Fortumo, commented: "Myanmar's rapid growth in smartphone ownership has created strong interest from digital content merchants in expanding into the country. We are excited to be working with Mytel and giving their subscribers a way to access high-quality digital content, as well as pay for premium services through their phone bill."

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Notes to Editors

About Boku

Boku Inc. (AIM: BOKU) is a leading global provider of mobile payment and mobile identity solutions. Boku's technology platform, which is linked to more than 200 mobile wallets and network operators worldwide, verifies user identity, executes payments, and provisions new services, simplifying daily mobile interactions between consumers and digital organizations.

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. Businesses that currently employ Boku's platform to simplify sign-up, acquire new paying users and prevent fraud include global leaders such as Apple, Discover, Experian, Facebook, FIS, Fiserv, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Paypal, Sony, Spotify and Western Union.

Boku Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in London, UK, with offices in various locations globally including in the US, Mumbai, Munich, Beijing, Paris, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Taipei, and Tokyo.

To learn more about Boku Inc., please visit: https://www.boku.com.

About Fortumo

Fortumo, acquired by Boku on 1 July 2020, is a digital enablement platform for app stores and digital service providers for user acquisition, monetization and retention. The company connects service providers with more than 280 mobile operators across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Service providers use Fortumo's platform to manage the end-to-end customer lifecycle of mobile users on these networks through the company's bundling, carrier billing and messaging solutions.

Fortumo's platform is used by thousands of leading digital merchants including Google, Amazon, Spotify, Epic Games, Tencent, Schibsted, OLX and EasyPark. Founded in 2007,Fortumo has offices in San Francisco, Madrid, Delhi, Singapore, Estonia, Hanoi and Jakarta. For more information, please visit https://fortumo.com.

About Mytel

Mytel aims to be the largest operator in terms of both infrastructure and business. Mytel is the first mobile network in Myanmar with the latest 4G technology. Mytel is a caring innovator which pioneers in innovation and creation. Mytel always tries to listen and understand to provide specialized customer care.

Mytel wants to become a telecommunication network that strengthen the power for the people of Myanmar. Mytel commits to bring Myanmar to the digital platform with the largest and most advanced telecom infrastructure.

In addition to telecommunications services, Mytel has also implemented a number of social policies such as providing free Internet connections to schools, hospitals, pagodas and meditation schools; provides video conferencing solutions for government offices and local governments.

Mytel Broadband is always available as a platform for information and technology solutions for all organizations, companies and investors in all industries and sectors in Myanmar towards mutual growth. For more information, please visit https://mytel.com.mm/.