Net Protections, Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Shin Shibata; “Net Protections”) announced a global Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) partnership agreement with international mobile carrier billing aggregator Boku, Inc. (Headquarters: London, UK; CEO: Jon Prideux; “Boku”).
Background and purpose of the partnership
Boku is the world’s leading mobile payments platform, and it’s M1ST (mobile first) Payments Network supports over 330 payment methods in 90 countries, reaching 5.7 billion payment accounts worldwide. Boku enables global companies to accept payments from mobile first consumers as they enter new, local markets. Boku began business activities in Japan and Taiwan in 2013 as the two regions play significant roles in Boku’s development strategy.
Boku’s M1ST Network integrates digital and local payment methods including Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) which is growing in popularity around the world. Therefore, in order to accelerate the growth of BNPL in Japan and Taiwan, the company entered into strategic partnership with Net Protections, which dominates the largest market share in those regions.
Going forward, for the introduction and expansion of B2C BNPL service “NP Atobarai” which guarantees full payment with zero risk (Japan) and B2C membership payment service “atone” (Japan) / AFTEE (Taiwan) which are available to global companies for digital contents, both companies will drive forward initiatives aimed at introducing BNPL service to global companies, promoting and raising awareness, while introducing Boku to Net Protections affiliated businesses and other business partners as well as jointly holding seminars and so forth.
Through this partnership, both companies drive forward the use of BNPL to global companies in Japan and Taiwan, and expect a great synergistic effect in increasing awareness and use of BNPL.
Comments from Representatives of Both Companies
Jon Prideaux, CEO, Boku, Inc.
We strive to add the most popular and fastest growing payment types to our M1ST Payments Network, and BNPL remains one of the fastest growing in the world. We are excited to add NP Atobarai, atone and AFTEE in partnership with Net Protections to enable our merchants to accept more payments from mobile-first consumers.
Shin Shibata, CEO, Net Protections Holdings, Inc.
We are elated to enter into the global BNPL partnership agreement with international carrier billing aggregator Boku. Collaboration between Net Protections, the pioneer in the field of BNPL for 20 years, and Boku, which provides services to various global companies, will vastly accelerate the growth of BNPL in Japan and Taiwan.
Overview of Boku, Inc.
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.
For more information about Boku, click here：https://www.boku.com
About Net Protections, Inc.
Net Protections, Inc. is a pioneer company in Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services in Japan and is leading the market with the largest market share (※A). In 2002, Net Protections launched its first service, NP Atobarai, a BNPL that guarantees risk-free transactions for businesses and provides a deferred payment for customers in Japan for the first time. In FY2020, NP Atobarai’s annual transaction volume has hit the growth rate of 116% compared to the previous fiscal year. NP Atobarai is used by numerous enterprises with over 15.8 million unique users in Japan (※B) and has processed more than 280 million transactions to date. In 2011, Net Protections released NP Kakebarai, a BNPL service for BtoB. NP Kakebarai has grown 127% yearly and played a role as the dominant BtoB payment service in Japan. In 2017, Net Protections launched atone, BtoC BNPL service with membership benefits that offers better shopping experience. In 2018, Net Protections released AFTEE, BtoC BNPL service in Taiwan. Net Protections has accumulated transaction data and knowledge since its first service launched, which has enabled it to build a sophisticated credit screening system and solid operation skills. Net Protections always pursues creating a society where everyone can do business safely and easily.
・Company Name ：
Net Protections, Inc.
・Representative ：Shin Shibata, CEO
・Website ：https://corp.netprotections.com/
・Business Outline ：BtoC e-commerce Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) service, NP Atobarai
BtoB BNPL service, NP Kakebarai
BtoC BNPL service, NP Atobarai air for individual day-to-day operations
BtoC BNPL service with membership benefits, atone
BtoC BNPL service in Taiwan, AFTEE
Point reward program, NP Point Club
・Founded ：January, 2000
・Capital JPY 100 million
・Headquarter ：SUMITOMO FUDOSAN KOJIMACHI FIRST BUILDING 5F, 4-2-6 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083 Japan
※A）Based on a survey we conducted of 239 companies, consisting of Japan’s top 300 e-commerce companies (according to the “75th E-commerce and Mail Order Sales Ranking” published in the Tsuhan Newspaper on January 7, 2021, but excluding certain companies for which we do not believe payment-after-delivery services are commonly used, such as luxury brands and home electronics), 166 utilized third-party payment providers as of March 1, 2020, 49 offered in-house payment-after-delivery services and 73 did not utilize payment-after-delivery services.※B）Source: Company information. The number of annual unique users is calculated as the number of NP Atobarai users during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021 based on the matching of names and phone numbers.
