Paytm launches payments platform PayPay in Japan, along with Softbank and Yahoo Japan

Indian payments behemoth Paytm on Monday said that it has launched is smartphone-based settlement service in Japan, PayPay.

The offering is a part of the ‘PayPay’ corporation, a joint venture between SoftBank Corp. ('SoftBank'), Yahoo Japan Corporation (“Yahoo Japan”) and Paytm (One97 Communications).

The news of Paytm’s foray into Japan in association with Japanese internet conglomerate SoftBank first surfaced in the last week of July. In a release, Softbank confirmed the news and said that Yahoo Japan Corporation will also be a part of the joint venture.

Speaking on the occasion, Madhur Deora, CFO and SVP, Paytm said,

“We are happy that the PayPay Corporation is utilising our QR-technology and prowess to enable cashless payments in Japan. We are sure this will give substantial growth to their business as they provide personalised 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.”

‘PayPay’ is a smartphone-based settlement service that allows users to store money from a bank account in their ‘PayPay’ wallet and make payments with it. Launched in October 2018, ‘PayPay’ aims to promote the broader use of cashless payment in Japan and to provide highly convenient services to both consumers and affiliated stores. Further, the platform leverages the QR-technology from Paytm.

With its launch, in a statement, ‘PayPay’, also announced that it will be giving electronic money equivalent to 500 yen to each customer downloading the application and authenticating it with a valid Japanese mobile number.

In addition, for sellers and establishments, ‘PayPay’ said that it will not be charging any fee for ‘user scan’ type settlement for three years till the end of September 2021.

Ichiro Nakayama, President and Representative Director CEO, PayPay Corporation said,

"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."

As part of the announcement, Paytm also said that it is offering mobile payments to over 350 million customers and over 9.5 million offline merchants.