InComm, a leading payments technology company, today announced that it has partnered with Mizuho Bank to expand its payment service “J-Coin Pay” to its retail network in Japan.
Through the partnership, a network of more than 18,000 retail locations – including pharmacies, supermarkets, home appliance retailers and discount stores – will be able to accept J-Coin Pay. The implementation, expected to take place through 2019, will absorb the differences in the system specifications of each payment service provider and funnel the payments routing seamlessly through the point of sale (POS). With minimal time needed to implement and execute, automatic payments routing will soon make it easier for cashiers to process transactions quickly and simply.
J-Coin Pay is a unique digital wallet, or a bank digital currency platform, created by 57 financial institutions. It allows customers to make payments, send and receive transfers, and perform other financial transactions on their smartphones. Customers are also able to use the smartphone app to move funds between their J-Coin Pay accounts (also known as peer-to-peer or P2P payments) and their deposit accounts at their financial institutions for free, anytime and anywhere.
“J-Coin Pay was launched this year and its adoption rapidly grew among Japanese consumers, so being chosen to be a part of this is a great honor for InComm,” said Takumaro Arai, Vice President and General Manager of InComm Japan. “Through this partnership, we’re not only helping shoppers pay in a modern and frictionless fashion, but also helping Japan achieve its goals towards digitizing payments.”
Cash-based payments are still widely common in Japan, and the Japanese government is committed to raising the volume of cashless payments to 40 percent by 2025 through facilitation of growth within the financial technology industry. InComm is playing a major role in this scenario, helping connect payment platforms with its ever-growing retail network.
InComm is quickly expanding its payments technology product portfolio in Japan. Over the last few years, the company announced partnerships with the leaders in payment methods technologies, including QR and barcode payment services such as WeChat Pay, LINE Pay, d Payment (R), Alipay, Origami Pay, PayPay, auPAY, Resona Wallet, Rakuten Pay (App Payment) , Japan Post Pay, NAVER Pay, merpay, and PAYCO.
About InComm
By building more value into every transaction through innovative payment technologies, InComm creates seamless and valuable commerce experiences. InComm’s unique products and services – which range from gift card malls to enhanced payment platforms – connect companies across a wide range of industries including retail, healthcare, tolling & transit, incentives and financial services to an ever-expanding consumer base. With more than 25 years of experience, over 500,000 points of distribution, 386 global patents and a presence in more than 30 countries, InComm leads the payments industry from its headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. Learn more at www.InComm.com.
About InComm Japan
With more than 10 years of local tradition in prepaid and gift card programs or payments technologies – including QR and barcode payment processing – InComm is present in tens of thousands of retail locations in Japan. This comes after long-lasting partnerships with the country’s leading brands in big box retail, convenience stores, drug stores, supermarkets, home appliance and discount stores.
About Mizuho Bank
Mizuho Bank is the core group company of Mizuho Financial Group, Japan’s largest financial services group.
Mizuho Financial Group provides global financial services and has offices in 40 countries. Total assets are over 200 trillion yen.
Mizuho Bank conducts business related to banking and other financial services, with individuals, small and medium-sized companies, large corporations, financial and public corporations, and overseas Japanese and non-Japanese companies as its main customers.