Direct carrier billing company Boku today announced a new partnership with IPC Media that enables new subscribers to sign up for print magazine subscriptions without the need for a credit or debit card by texting a keyword to a short number, according to a press release.

Boku said in the announcment it expects this text-to-pay product "significantly" increase print magazine subscriptions, particularly among young, mobile-first, consumers. After confirmation via text, the subscriber will complete the registration process via a mobile website. The charge for the magazine subscription appears on the subscriber's carrier bill, or is deducted from their prepaid balance using Boku's e-money product, according to the press release.

"Our company is always looking to take advantage of technological innovation," Beatriz Montoya, acting direct marketing director at IPC Media, said in a statement. "Creating a solution with Boku that gives readers the ability to immediately subscribe using their phone number has tremendous potential to grow our subscription business. Very soon our readers will start discovering keywords that they can subscribe with via insert cards, print ads and on the covers on their favorite magazines."

Both companies said in the announcement they believe this initiative is a significant step toward the widespread combination of both the physical and the digital, as offline paper inserts and magazine ads now offer an online sign up path for mobile payment-based subscriptions. Many of IPC's magazines will be available via text-to-pay, including woman&home, Marie Claire, InStyle and Ideal Home.