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    Recruit Group Introduces Digital Account Management and Payment Service AirWALLET in winter of FY2021

    Sep 15, 2021 | Recruit

    Recruit through its joint venture with MUFG Bank, the Recruit subsidiary Recruit MUFG Business, will launch the digital account management and payment service AirWALLET. The new service available via SmartPhone app and which debuts in the winter of fiscal 2021, enables seamless management and transfer of money for daily needs.  By linking a digital account with a bank account, users can seamlessly make deposits and withdrawals between the two accounts and send and receive money within the app.*1

    Research shows that  small and mid-size independent stores find the cost of handling fees related to payments and other monetary transactions is becoming more challenging. While less time is needed for processing payments on a daily basis, stores are usually charged handling fees of 3-5% of sales, adding to their operating costs.  Due to a social shift toward cashless transactions, a trend that has increased in speed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have chosen to shift to contactless payments. In addition, when overseas visitors can return to Japan, the demand for cashless payments is expected to increase.

    Although the transition to cashless payments has progressed over the last few years, there are often restrictions on when such transactions can be made, with cash still predominantly used in daily life for exchanging money and gathering donations. Recruit saw an opportunity to make such transactions more convenient, and so launched AirWALLET.

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    AirWALLET also includes the COIN+ mobile payment service - another service offered by Recruit MUFG Business. Users of AirWALLET will be able to make payments from digital accounts via QR codes at COIN+ affiliated stores. With handling fees set at 0.99% participating businesses can offer the service with a minimum impact on their revenue.

    As COIN+ can be integrated into other third-party apps, Recruit is pursuing collaborations with other businesses across various industries, including retail and restaurant firms.

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    Future payment services equipped with COIN+, including AirWALLET, will be compatible with Recruit’s AirPAY*2 service (application required). Today Recruit is informing approximately 220,000 stores across Japan that use AirPAY, and integration will begin subsequently.

    Recruit’s Air BusinessTools, which include AirREGI and AirPAY, have been supporting small businesses across various industries by reducing the labor, time, and cost involved in the daily management of their stores, while still allowing them to retain their individuality.

    *1: Handling fees on deposits and withdrawals between the digital account and the bank account will be free for holders of an MUFG Bank account.

    *2: AirPAY is a payment service that can use credit cards, electronic money, QR codes or points. With just a single card reader and either an iPad or iPhone, it can process 37 methods of payment. The service began in October 2015 and as of the end of June 2021, the number of affiliated stores had exceeded 228,000*1, and it was number one*2 for user satisfaction among in-store payment services. The number of affiliated stores continues to grow as the service is introduced throughout Japan, in a broad range of industries, including beauty, dining, retail and services, as well as via comprehensive collaboration agreements with local governments.

    With just 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 payment 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 have said, “operation is easy, so even brand-new part-timers are able to use it,” “the amount of payments by card haves risen almost tenfold in one year,” “since we only need one card reader to use the service, it is much neater tidier around the cash register.” Furthermore, if it is used together with the free, easy-to-use, free-of-charge POS cash register app AirREGI, at the time of purchase 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 operation procedures according to each payment method, and it reduces mistakes at the register caused by having to repeat procedures.

    *1: Own company survey (as of the end of June 2021) *2: Surveying body: Recruit Lifestyle Co., Ltd.、Survey agency: Intage Inc. (as of February 19, 2020) Product being surveyed: Cashless payment terminals available at stores in Japan (multi-payment)

    Corporate outline of Recruit MUFG Business

    • Company name: Recruit MUFG Business

    • Founded: December 20, 2019

    • Capital: 100 million yen

    • Business content: digital account management and payment service AirWALLET, payment brand COIN+

    • Headquarters: 5th floor, Sumitomo Realty & Development Yaesu Building, 2-4-1 Yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokyo (registered headquarter) 8-4-17 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

    • Shareholders: Recruit Co., Ltd., MUFG Bank, Ltd.Homepage: https://www.recruitmufgbiz.co.jp/To an external site

    Click hereTo an external site to read the original press release.