AirPAY to Begin Handling J-Coin Pay, AlipayHK, Kakao Pay, Touch'n Go eWallet, and EZ-Link Wallet

Recruit, an intermediate holding company of Recruit Holdings, announced today that AirPAY will begin handling J-Coin Pay, AlipayHK, Kakao Pay, Touch'n Go eWallet, and EZ-Link Wallet. AirPAY is a payment service for retailers that supports credit cards, electronic money, QR codes, and points.

Background

AirPAY is a payment service for retailers that accepts cards, electronic money, QR codes, and points, and requires only a single card reader paired with either an iPad or iPhone to support multiple payment methods. As of the end of March 2020, the number of affiliated retailers, including industries such as beauty, food and beverage, retail, and services, had increased by 167% in one year. The service has been introduced across Japan through comprehensive collaboration agreements with local governments. With the addition of J-Coin Pay, AlipayHK, Kakao Pay, Touch'n Go eWallet, and EZ-Link Wallet, AirPAY will support a total of 35 payment methods.

The "Cashless Vision" announced by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry aims to increase the cashless ratio in Japan from the current 20% to 40% by 2025, and eventually to 80%, the highest level in the world. The final number of registered merchants under the "The Point Reward Project for Consumers using Cashless Payment," which will run until the end of June 2020, has reached approximately 1.15 million^*1, and the cashless ratio in Japan, which was estimated to be around 18.4%^*2 in 2015, will be 26.8% in 2019 (up 2.7 point from the previous year)^*3. These developments signal an increasing need for cashless payments among merchants and consumers. In addition, with the recent spread of the novel coronavirus infection, more retailers are considering introducing contactless payment methods such as electronic money and QR codes, which allow customers to complete payment by simply holding their device over a reader.

Recruit will continue to support stores by making it easy to use any means of payment with just one AirPAY and eliminating the inconvenience of cashless payments for both stores and consumers.

About AirPAY

AirPAY is a payment service that can use credit cards, electronic money, QR codes, or points and supports 35 payment methods using an iPad or iPhone and a dedicated card reader. The service was launched in October 2015, and as of the end of March 2020, the number of member stores exceeded 149,000, while also becoming No. 1^*4 payment service in terms of overall user satisfaction. In addition to a wide range of industries such as beauty, food and beverage, retail, and services, AirPAY is being introduced nationwide through comprehensive cooperation agreements with local governments in Japan, and the number of affiliated stores continues to grow.

With AirPAY alone, stores can offer both domestic customers and international visitors desired methods of payment, including major international credit cards, rechargeable prepaid IC travel cards, other e-money such as iD, QUICPay and Apple Pay, as well as QR code payments via PayPay, d Barai and AliPay. They can also support shared point programs such as  T POINT, Ponta and d POINT.

Handling fees are among the cheapest in the industry. Deposits can be made from three to six times a month, and there are no monthly fixed fees or transfer fees. Feedback from stores that have introduced the service include, “operation is easy, so even new part-timers are able to use it,” “payments by card have risen almost tenfold in one year,” “since we only need one card reader to use the service, it is much neater around the cash register.”

Furthermore, if it is used together with the free, easy-to-use, POS cash register app AirREGI, all that is required at the time of purchase is to tap to select the payment method, making the process even easier. There is no need to remember different procedures for each payment method, and it reduces mistakes at the register caused by having to repeat procedures.

About AirPAY https://airregi.jp/payment/

Product being surveyed: Cashless payment terminals available at retailers in Japan (multi-payment)

About Each Services

J-Coin Pay is a smartphone payment application provided by Mizuho Bank, Ltd. that allows users to complete a variety of money-related activities, such as sending and receiving money and paying on their smartphones. It can be used by anyone with an account at any of the 85 financial institutions in Japan (which holds approximately 80 million accounts). You can make deposits and withdrawals (recharge/restore to your account) to and from your financial institution account anytime, anywhere, for free. Users that select J-Coin Pay making a reservation or applying for the Myna Point service will receive 500 yen (until March 31, 2021).

About J-Coin Pay https://j-coin.jp/

AlipayHK is an electronic wallet for Hong Kong citizens. In addition to payment, AlipayHK offers a wide range of services such as person-to-person remittance, overseas remittance, payment of utility bills and e-commerce purchases, ticket and coupon acquisition, and purchase of third party products such as insurance products. Currently, more than 50,000 merchants in Hong Kong have adopted AlipayHK, including retail retailers, restaurants, public transport, and cabs.

About AlipayHK https://www.alipayhk.com/zh/home

Kakao Pay is Korea's first mobile payment service, launched in 2014. It provides fintech services such as payment, remittance, and membership management to more than 30 million users. In 2017, Kakao Pay formed a partnership with Ant Group, the parent company of the global payment platform Alipay, and is evolving into a comprehensive financial platform that aims to provide the foundation for a cashless society.

About Kakao Pay https://www.kakaocorp.com/service/KakaoPay?lang=en

Touch'n Go eWallet is an e-wallet with more than 11 million users, providing services such as QR code payment, online payment, online money transfer service PayDirect, money transfer using RFID function, and transportation payment. 

Touch'n Go eWallet is one of the e-wallets selected by the Malaysian government for the e-Tunai Rakyat e-payment promotion program. TNG Digital Sdn Bhd, the operator of the Touch'n Go eWallet, is a joint venture between Touch'n Go Sdn. Bhd. and Ant Group, providing a cashless payment platform to suit every lifestyle.

About Touch'n Go eWallet https://www.tngdigital.com.my/

The EZ-Link Wallet is a mobile wallet provided by EZ-Link that can be used at over 1,000 merchants in Singapore. It is the first digital wallet in Singapore to join Alipay's global payment network and can make payments through the Singapore Global QR Code (SGQR), as well as Singaporean and overseas retailers that support Alipay or EZ-Link Wallet.

About EZ-Link Wallet https://www.ezlink.com.sg/ezl-digital-wallet

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