Japan’s largest coffee chain Ueshima Coffee is to let customers make purchases by charging the cost to their mobile phone bill through a partnership with carrier billing solutions provider Boku and mobile network operators KDDI and Docomo.

“This new functionality at Ueshima coffee shops allows KDDI and Docomo subscribers to charge loyalty card top-ups to their mobile phone bill,” Boku says. “This is a first of its kind partnership that allows customers to top-up their Ueshima Coffee cards using their mobile phone in order to purchase coffee, food and other products in any Ueshima coffee shop.

“Ueshima Coffee customers are able to add money to their Ueshima Coffee cards using only their carrier login, either through the Ueshima mobile app or website. The funds are instantly added to their card. At the register, customers can use the magnetic stripe on their physical Ueshima card.”

The following video shows how the Boku service works for Ueshima Coffee customers:

“This partnership with Ueshima Coffee demonstrates that Boku can help any kind of merchant, whether for digital or non-digital services,” says Hiroshi Yoda, country manager of Japan at Boku. “This only furthers Boku’s mission to provide the world’s most convenient and accessible way to pay.

“Given the preferences of Japanese consumers to use credit card alternatives for many purchases, we expect Ueshima customers to take full advantage of carrier billing through Boku.”

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