Months after news emerged that Paytm may launch a payments service in Japan, “PayPay” has been launched in Japan by Paytm as part of a joint venture with SoftBank Corp and Yahoo Japan Corporation. Paytm’s owner One97 Communications is the signatory to this joint venture.
The model adopted won’t be very different from the ones you see in India. Users can download the “PayPay” app on their mobiles and then transfer and store money on the app. They can then use this balance to make payments while shopping. The Japanese public may be egged on to gradually move from making cash payments to digital wallet settlements.
The same QR code reading technology will be applied, and the Japanese joint venture will take the steps needed to rope in as many retails establishments as it can to popularize the use of the “PayPay” wallet. Paytm has the experience of having recruited almost 10 million offline merchants in India who accept settlements through Paytm by over 350 million customers.
“We are happy that the PayPay Corporation is utilizing our QR-technology and prowess to enable cashless payments in Japan. We are sure that this will give substantial growth to their business as they provide personalized and seamless digital payments experience to their customers. PayPay was developed with teams from three different countries working together, it is a true testimony for us and our industry-leading solutions that can be easily ported to suit the needs of any country or market,” Madhur Deora, CFO & SVP – Paytm said in a statement.
To set the ball rolling, those downloading the “PayPay” app will get a starting bonus, in their wallets, of 500 Yen. The customer has to have a valid Japanese mobile number. The sweeten the deal for the merchant establishments accepting payments via “PayPay”, there will be a 3-year holiday from fee for the payments going through their hands. This will be in force till September 2021.
“Paytm is the leader in smart electronic payment services in India and has achieved great success. It is a great strength to introduce Paytm's high technology and solution to PayPay and I am confident that it will greatly contribute to the expansion of users in Japan,” Ichiro Nakayama, President & Representative Director CEO － PayPay Corporation said.