Boku unveils mobile payment service issued through carriers

Mobile payments company Boku has announced a new venture that will let users pay for items in-store with their mobile phone and earn some discounts along the way. Called Boku Accounts, the service comes in the form of a prepaid account and mobile app issued through your carrier — unlike Google Wallet, which gives you mobile access to existing credit, debit, loyalty, and gift cards. The service also tracks your purchases for budgeting purposes and any retailers who are on board can offer discounts and loyalty programs to Boku users.

The service supports NFC for payments, but for the many of us who don’t have NFC-equipped devices Boku has two options: a sticker embedded with an NFC chip that you can stick on the back of your phone, or a pre-paid MasterCard that draws from the same account. We’re not quite sure when you’ll be able to use the service, though, as Boku hasn’t announced any carrier or merchant partners yet.