FF News — The Fintech News Network

Boku Momentum: Revenue Jumps 34% as Global Giants Rethink Card-First Strategies

By Dominic Sow · 17 December 2025

Boku reports strong H1 2025 growth as CEO Stuart Neal highlights rising demand for local payment methods and expansion with global merchants including Canva.
Boku the global network for localised payment solutions, marks today a year of significant commercial growth with revenues for H1 2025 up 34% year-on-year. EBITDA increased by 53% as well as a 20% rise in Monthly Active Users to more than 95 million, and a 28% increase in Total Payment Volume to $7.4 billion.   This growth has been driven by a decisive market shift away from traditional card payments and towards Local Payment Methods (LPMs). LPMs, including digital wallets, account-to-account (A2A) payments, and direct carrier billing (DCB), are expected to rise from 49% to 59% of all global e-commerce transactions by value by 2028.   Boku connects global merchants to more than 200 of these payment methods across 60+ countries through a single integration. The company achieved its strongest performance to date in 2025, with key wins, strategic expansion and industry accolades.   Strategic Momentum & Key Wins   Boku’s growth has been driven by momentum across payments, bundling and infrastructure:  
  • Subscription bundling scale: Boku's subscription bundling service now powers 48.2 million active subscribers globally, generating $2.6 billion in total payment volume for clients in 2025 (as of November). The company onboarded 18 new bundling partners this year across telecommunications, banking and digital commerce, with the strongest adoption in the US and robust uptake across APAC.  
  • Network Expansion: Boku launched Rakuten Pay (Japan), Naver Pay (Korea), and MerPay (Japan) with a global gaming merchant – tapping into MerPay’s 19 million active users. The roll-out of these high-value wallets with the merchant further cements Boku’s dominance in the digital entertainment vertical. In addition, Boku enabled QRPH in the Philippines in H1 2025, extending its reach to millions of bank app users and e-wallet customers through a government-backed network designed to drive digital financial inclusion. 
  • Future-Proofing: The new Boku Innovation Hub in Singapore is now operational, piloting next-generation settlement engines including real-time FX and stablecoin rails (following Boku’s investment in Ubyx) to solve the "last mile" problem of cross-border commerce. 
  • Enterprise Merchant Win: Boku has partnered with Canva to accelerate subscriber growth across APAC. Launching first with MoMo (Vietnam), this partnership allows Canva to bypass low credit card penetration and unlock millions of new users via their preferred local wallets. 
  • Infrastructure Milestone: Securing a Payment Institution license from the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) now grants Boku direct access to the Pix ecosystem. This enables Boku merchants to directly tap into Brazil’s dominant payment rail, used by over 15 million businesses. 
Stuart Neal, CEO of Boku, said: "The 53% jump in our EBITDA is the clearest signal yet that the 'one-size-fits-all' card model is failing global commerce. Merchants like Canva and our other partners aren't just choosing Boku for payments; they are choosing us for growth. Competition for subscribers is fiercer than ever, and our bundling platform, now powering 48 million subscribers, has become an essential antidote for acquisition and retention. By combining this with network expansions like Rakuten Pay and direct licenses in Brazil, we are building the only infrastructure capable of powering the post-card economy.”  Notes to Editors (Backgrounder)  Awards & Recognition 
  • FTSE AIM Company of the Year 2025: Acknowledging Boku's market leadership and financial discipline. 
  • Industry Leadership: CEO Stuart Neal named in The Payments Power 50; shortlisted for 'Best Payment Facility' at The Card and Payments Awards 2026. 
  • Governance: Richard Pennycook CBE appointed as Non-Executive Chair to steer continued expansion. 
  • Merchant Strategy: David McLellan, VP, Legal – Regulatory & Expansion, joined the Merchant Risk Council APAC advisory board 
Market Context  The Shift: Local Payment Methods (LPMs) are projected to capture 59% of all global transaction value by 2028 (up from 49% in 2023), driven by growing LPM dominance in APAC, LATAM, and EMEA (source: Boku Global Ecommerce Report). 

Companies in this story: Boku Inc

People in this story: Stuart Neal

More from News