Coronavirus proves great for Boku’s bottom line, as payments jump 30%

Fintech firm Boku says the worldwide impact of the coronavirus has positively affected its business, with its total payment volume rising by 30% over the last two months, Reuters reports.

Boku, a payments service that allows users to charge purchases to their mobile number, said on Tuesday that the number of daily average users rose in the second half of February versus the second half of January — particularly in countries under the coronavirus threat, including South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Oman.

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Boku can be used on platforms such as Spotify and Playstation, and is accepted by a number of gambling websites and online casinos.

“The recent growth we have seen in those countries that are most affected has been higher than in those where the virus has had a more limited impact so far,” said CEO Jon Prideaux.

The California-based Boku is one of the only companies apparently unashamed by the notion that the coronavirus situation is good for its bottom line. The company’s share price was up more than 12% at pixel time.

Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser said last week that it had seen increased demand for its Dettol and Lyson cleaning products, while retail data showed Chinese coronavirus shut-ins had been buying up Nintendo games, condoms, yoga mats, and rowing machines to pass the time.