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WHAT IS IT? Bango is a mobile payment platform used by online stores such as Google, Amazon, Samsung and Microsoft.

The Cambridge firm, which was founded in 1999 and listed in November 2015, allows smartphone and tablet users to make payments for anything from digital content to household items.

WHAT’S THE LATEST? This week, Bango announced a tie-up with Amazon that will let users in Japan buy items and charge them to their phone bill – the first time Amazon has ever permitted the use of carrier billing, as the process is known.

In March, the firm also announced a stellar set of results, with total revenue in 2016 growing to £2.6m from £1.3m. It also claimed to have identified 220 growth opportunities within Google, Microsoft and Samsung.

WHO BACKS IT? AIM-listed fund manager Liontrust has a hefty 17pc stake in the firm, while Odey Asset Management also owns a

large portion. The largest individual investor is chief executive and co-founder Ray Anderson, with a 10pc stake.

Anderson, who was taught physics by Stephen Hawking at Cambridge University, has a long history in technology firms and worked with the team that created the original ARM processor.

WHY SHOULD YOU INVEST? The use of carrier payments is very popular in Japan, where the e-commerce market is valued at around £77bn, so the fact Amazon chose Bango to help it enter the market speaks volumes.

Broker Cenkos said Amazon’s endorsement means Bango has created the industry standard for carrier payments, a market that still has a huge potential to grow. …AND WHY YOU SHOULDN’T It is still too early to tell whether the agreement between Amazon and Bango will be successful. Some investors may prefer to wait and see how the deal goes before jumping aboard.