CEO Today Global Awards

www.ceotodaymagazine.com 42 CEO Today Global Awards 2019 united kingdom JON PRIDEAUX CEO of Boku, INC. FIRM PROFILE Boku is a mobile payment processing company that allows customers to charge digital goods and services to their mobile number. It makes it easy and safe for customers to pay for their purchases using their mobile phone. Purchases on your favorite games, entertainment and social sites can be charged to your wireless phone bill using Boku. No credit card or bank account is required. Boku was founded by Mark Britto, Erich Ringewald and Ron Hirson. In that year, Boku acquired two UK companies, Mobillcash and Paymo, and using their combined assets, launched Boku Checkout, a web hosted payment panel that allows consumers to enter their phone number and charge online purchases against their prepaid airtime or monthly phone bill. The product has supported purchases in as many as 79 countries and continues to be used by major online game platforms operated by Facebook, Riot Games, and Blizzard Entertainment. At Boku, we have four key values that guide our approach to business, as well as, each other. These are: Collaborate Assume Positive Intent Be Flexible Be Ambitious We seek to develop an entrepreneurial and supportive culture across our business which means that these values are integral to everything we do. We understand that Boku’s success depends on its people and working together is key. A mix of cultures, viewpoints and experiences are vital for a global company like ours and every person’s contribution is valued. Pick up the phone, walk across the office and share information openly. Welcome other’s opinions and ideas. We are all on the same team and in most scenarios, over communication is preferred to radio silence! At Boku, being positive and open is crucial. Everyone comes to the table with their best intentions and we always think of the customer first! Being a team player means trusting and respecting each other and encouraging others to do the same. We are dedicated to honesty and integrity when it comes to our clients, employees and other stakeholders. This is why our motto is “aim to make promises that you can keep and keep the promises that you make!” Boku is committed to an empowering working environment and we consider communication our most powerful tool to organize ourselves, align expectations, and ensure meeting deadlines. We often resolve issues under pressure as Boku’s platform is used in the biggest digital marketplaces, but sometimes things go wrong. We believe in learning from our mistakes through an honest evaluation of what went wrong to ensure they are not repeated. ABOUT JON PRIDEAUX Jon has more than 25 years of payments experience. He was an early Visa Europe employee and key contributor to its growth, leaving in 2006 as EVP Marketing. He started Visa Europe’s ecommerce division, was the lead executive on the introduction of Chip and PIN technology and oversaw product launches such as Visa Electron and V PAY. He served on the Board of EMVCo, was the Chairman of the Compliance Committee and was a member of Visa’s Global Product and Brand Councils. Since leaving Visa in 2006, Jon served as Deputy CEO for S e c u r e T r a d i n g , where he doubled transaction numbers and quadrupled profitability. He then led a management buy in at Shopcreator, the ecommerce software platform.