By Kim Yoo-chul
Danal, the nation’s top-tier provider for mobile commerce solutions, said Thursday its subsidiary in the United States has received a $5 million investment from Discover Financial Services (DFS).
The investment will be used to boost the firm’s presence in the growing and lucrative carrier billing market.
Company spokeswoman Shin Min-jeong said its U.S. affiliate ― BilltoMobile ― will jointly proceed with strategic projects led by the DFS in mobile commerce-related sectors.
“The agreement will pave the way for us to improve our carrier billing business in the United States. Transactions using our solutions, there, rose by 340 percent during the first quarter of this year, year-on-year,” said the spokeswoman.
Danal is KOSDAQ-listed, while DFS shares are trading in the New York Stock Exchange.
The spokeswoman said the mutual partnership is going to be expanded further thanks to the market’s fast shift towards digital wallets, advanced financing tools and other offerings.
Danal is one of a few players, which is being aggressive to fine tune its carrier billing systems amid growing consumer preference to use portable Web-connected devices including smartphones and tablets as tools for payment.
Danal was the first to start a carrier billing business in Korea and it has expanded that business to China, Taiwan, the United States, Japan and Europe. It offers carrier billing services for over 220 carriers across more than 80 countries.