Boku, a London-headquartered payments company, lets the world's biggest technology and media companies take payment through phone bills, digital wallets and bank-to-bank schemes in markets where cards are not the default. Revenue grew 30% to $128.8m in 2025, then in July 2026 management cut full-year guidance to $135-142m, and the shares fell from 148.5p in June to 98p in July.
One connection to 200 local ways to pay
Boku sells merchants a single integration to a network of over 200 local payment methods, which are ways of paying that are not international cards. They include Direct Carrier Billing (charging a purchase to the mobile phone bill), digital wallets and Account-to-Account (A2A) real-time bank payments. Merchants include the largest technology, media and entertainment groups. Boku holds payment licences and registrations in more than 40 markets, including India and Brazil.
It earns a small cut of each payment. In H1 2026 Direct Carrier Billing brought in $35.3m, wallets and A2A $22.0m and Bundling $9.2m. Bundling lets merchants sell subscriptions through partners such as telecom operators. The company also converts currencies and settles money across borders. 23 Sep 2026 17 Mar 2026
Beyond the phone bill: wallets and bank rails
Boku's origins were in carrier billing. Its chair's statement says Jon Prideaux joined in 2012, became CEO in 2014 and took the company public in 2017. In 2023 revenue rose 30% to $82.7m as key merchants added wallets and A2A connections to their carrier billing. Revenue from these newer methods rose 153% to $16.9m.
Stuart Neal became CEO on 1 January 2024. In 2024 Boku won India's central bank authorisation to run UPI payments, launched BLIK in Poland with Google and signed Amazon Japan. In March 2025 it set a medium-term target: organic revenue growth above 20% a year, and an adjusted EBITDA margin (operating profit before depreciation and some other items) above 30%, rising progressively from 2026. 19 Mar 2024 5 Jan 2024 9 Apr 2024 4 Jun 2024 13 Nov 2024 18 Mar 2025
2025: growth ahead of the plan
2025 beat the target. Revenue rose 30% to $128.8m, wallets and A2A rose 67%, Bundling 71%, and operating profit tripled to $18.9m. About $3m of first-half revenue came from launch-phase pricing on one wallet connection, which did not recur. The company said its medium-term guidance was unchanged.
The shares rose from 161p in March 2025 to 236p in July 2025. Boku also bought back shares throughout, stayed debt-free and held group cash of $245.6m at the year end. At an October 2025 capital markets event it said a ramp-up in direct sales was expected in 2026. 17 Mar 2026 30 Sep 2025 24 Jul 2025 16 Oct 2025
2026: delayed launches and a guidance cut
On 8 July 2026 Boku cut its 2026 guidance to revenue of $135-142m and adjusted EBITDA of $38-42m. The trading update put market expectations at $155m of revenue. 2025 revenue was $128.8m, so the guidance implies growth of roughly 5% to 10%. The shares closed July at 98p.
Management gave three causes. A key merchant adopted dual sourcing, meaning it split volume between suppliers. Boku expected to lose share in one market and win more in several new ones, but those launches slipped from the first half to the second. Two carrier-billing connections in one country were suspended by local authorities. A few other merchant launches also slipped. H1 revenue was $66.5m, up 5% as reported and 11% excluding the launch-phase pricing in the 2025 base. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 29.4%, below the 30% floor.
The company says the delayed markets are now live. 8 Jul 2026 23 Sep 2026
“Secondly, two direct carrier billing connections were suspended by local authorities in one country.” 23 Sep 2026
Big customers and local regulators both cut both ways
Boku's growth rests on a small group of very large merchants, and one merchant's launch timing and sourcing decisions moved its full-year numbers. The company does not name that merchant. Its take rate, the revenue earned per dollar of payments, fell from 81bps to 77bps on an underlying basis (a basis point is 0.01%). Growth in the half came from lower-rate products such as Bundling.
Operating costs rose 13% in H1 2026, mainly because 2025 hiring carried through a full year. Management says headcount is now flat to down and automation lets it absorb growth. In carrier billing, a regulator suspended two connections in one country. The company says it has no remaining exposure there. 23 Sep 2026 8 Jul 2026
A new commercial and product team
Neal has led since January 2024. Rob Whittick joined from NatWest as finance chief in July 2024. Richard Pennycook became chair in August 2025. Prideaux, the former CEO, sold 1m shares in January 2026 and left the board at the June 2026 AGM. After the guidance cut, Neal bought 106,000 shares at 95p and Whittick 65,000 at 98.75p.
Since mid-2026 Boku has added Peter Klein, ex-Mastercard, as Chief Commercial Officer, and Karim Ahmad as Chief Product Officer from 1 October, replacing Adam Lee after 15 years. It has also added a Chief Data & AI Officer, a Chief HR Officer and a new non-executive director. A 2024 share-award plan for executives vests only if the shares reach well above 180p: 541p for the first 25%. The shares stood at 142p in September 2026. 5 Jan 2024 18 Jul 2024 24 Jul 2025 17 Mar 2026 27 Jan 2026 8 Jul 2026 10 Jul 2026 22 Jul 2026 23 Sep 2026 7 Sep 2026 15 Aug 2024 23 Sep 2026
Stripe signed, cash intact, shares well down
Boku signed its first channel partnership, with payments giant Stripe, and the first merchants are live. It added 47 payment connections in H1 and went live on PIX in Brazil and UPI in India. July and August brought a streaming platform, its first mobility merchant and a large video platform. Payment volume rose 16% to $8.6bn.
The balance sheet has no debt. Own cash, excluding merchant and issuer funds, was $84.6m after $23.6m of buybacks. In July the board allowed up to 8m more shares to be repurchased. Over 2026 BlackRock cut its stake from 8.04% to 4.81% and Octopus from 11.95% to 9.84%. The shares closed September at 142p, against 218p in January. 23 Sep 2026 8 Jul 2026
Guidance for 2026; the 20% target is not restated
Management expects 2026 revenue of $135-142m and adjusted EBITDA of $38-42m. It says trading since the period end is in line with this. It does not expect the take rate to fall further in H2.
The March 2025 medium-term target (above 20% a year in organic revenue growth and a margin above 30%, rising from 2026) was repeated in March 2026. The interim statement's outlook covers 2026 only, and the guided 2026 growth is well below 20%. Management points to direct sales, channel partners such as Stripe, Bundling, currency conversion and a planned PayFac model, which would let it onboard and screen merchants brought by partners. 23 Sep 2026 17 Mar 2026 18 Mar 2025
“Trading since the period end has been in line with expectations.” 23 Sep 2026
Written by AI from Boku, Inc's own announcements since Oct 2023 · every paragraph links to its sources