Boku rides wallet boom as EBITDA surges & volumes soar

UK-listed fintech Boku has reported a 34% year-on-year rise in first-half revenue, as global merchants deepen their move away from card-based payments and towards local digital wallets and alternative payment options.

The London-based company also recorded a 53% increase in EBITDA, a 20% rise in Monthly Active Users to more than 95 million, and a 28% increase in Total Payment Volume to $7.4 billion in the period. The figures underline growing demand for Local Payment Methods in markets where card penetration remains limited and wallets and account-to-account services are increasingly dominant.

Boku focuses on connecting large digital merchants to local payment options through a single integration. It now links to more than 200 different payment methods across over 60 countries, and the company said its 2025 performance marked its strongest period to date.

Local methods rise

Local Payment Methods, or LPMs, include digital wallets, account-to-account transfers and direct carrier billing. Boku expects these to increase from 49% to 59% of all global eCommerce transactions by value by 2028, driven by faster adoption in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

That shift has coincided with a pullback in some areas of UK-listed technology investment and scrutiny on digital business models. Boku's revenue and earnings growth place it among a group of fintechs that are benefiting from long-term payment mix changes rather than discretionary consumer apps.

Stuart Neal, Chief Executive of Boku, said that the company's earnings growth reflects merchants' changing priorities.

"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," said Neal.

Bundling push

Subscription bundling has emerged as a core line of business. Boku's bundling service now supports 48.2 million active subscribers worldwide and generated $2.6 billion in total payment volume for clients in 2025 as of November.

The company added 18 new bundling partners over the year across telecommunications, banking and digital commerce. Adoption was strongest in the US, with steady uptake across Asia-Pacific, where subscription services often sit inside mobile or broadband contracts and rely on non-card payment instruments.

Boku positions its bundling service as a way for merchants to integrate their offers into third-party subscriber bases, such as mobile operators and banks, while using local payment options in each market. This has become significant for streaming, gaming and software subscriptions where card coverage is patchy.

APAC wallet growth

Asia-Pacific remains central to Boku's network strategy. In 2025 it launched support for Rakuten Pay and MerPay in Japan and Naver Pay in South Korea. These are large domestic wallets with high consumer usage and are important for international merchants seeking local payment acceptance.

The launches took place in partnership with a global gaming merchant, which is using the integrations to expand its reach among users of the Japanese and Korean wallets. Boku said the MerPay integration alone gives its merchant partner access to 19 million active users in Japan's domestic digital ecosystem.

Boku also enabled QRPH in the Philippines in the first half of 2025. QRPH is a government-backed QR code standard that links banks and e-wallets. The move extends Boku's reach to millions of bank app users and wallet customers in the country, where interoperable QR payments are displacing cash and card-based purchases in everyday transactions.

Cross-border focus

The group has also put more emphasis on the mechanics of cross-border settlement. Boku opened an Innovation Hub in Singapore that focuses on testing next-generation settlement engines for its network.

The Singapore unit is piloting real-time foreign exchange processes. It is also testing stablecoin payment rails that follow Boku's investment in Ubyx. The aim is to address so-called "last mile" challenges in cross-border commerce where merchants in one country must collect and settle local payments from another jurisdiction with minimal friction and delay.

Boku's cross-border strategy also includes direct regulatory access in key markets. The company has secured a Payment Institution licence from the Central Bank of Brazil. This licence grants it direct access to Pix, the instant payment system that has become a dominant payment rail in Brazil.

Pix is widely used by consumers and businesses. More than 15 million businesses in Brazil now accept Pix payments, and Boku's connection gives its global merchants an on-ramp to that ecosystem without relying on intermediaries.

Canva partnership

An agreement with design and productivity platform Canva highlights Boku's focus on subscription-led merchants in emerging markets. Boku has partnered with Canva on a regional rollout aimed at increasing subscriber numbers across Asia-Pacific.

The partnership began in Vietnam with local wallet MoMo. Canva uses Boku's link to MoMo as a way around low credit card usage in the country. The arrangement allows Vietnamese users to pay for Canva's services through their preferred digital wallet, rather than through international card schemes.

Boku expects further wallet launches under the Canva partnership across other Asia-Pacific markets. The company said these would follow a similar pattern, using local wallets and non-card methods to support subscription growth.

Market outlook

The company has also attracted external recognition for its recent growth and governance changes. It has been named FTSE AIM Company of the Year 2025. Chief Executive Stuart Neal appeared in The Payments Power 50 and the group was shortlisted for Best Payment Facility at The Card and Payments Awards 2026.

Boku's board now includes Richard Pennycook CBE as Non-Executive Chair. The company has also deepened its involvement in industry bodies. David McLellan, Vice President, Legal - Regulatory & Expansion, has joined the Merchant Risk Council APAC advisory board.

Boku expects the share of Local Payment Methods in global eCommerce by value to reach 59% by 2028, driven by growth in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and EMEA. The company plans to continue expanding its local network, subscription bundling base and cross-border infrastructure as that shift in payment preferences accelerates.