Across Japan, 1 million businesses join tax refund point system
The program was aimed at preventing a drop in consumer spending following the tax hike last October, and stimulating consumption to raise the share of cashless payments.
Virus pandemic pushes Japan’s shoppers to finally buy online
Now that the government is urging consumers and businesses to step up efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, shoppers may finally have no excuse but to embrace e-commerce and wean themselves from brick-and-mortar stores. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency for Tokyo ...
23 cashless payment providers join Japan's My Number point program
Twenty-three providers of cashless payment services have registered to participate in a government-led reward-point program for holders of My Number social security and tax identification cards, the internal affairs ministry said Wednesday. Among the 23 firms and organizations are East Japan Railway Co., which manages ...
Lawson Inc. unveiled for the media Tuesday an experimental checkout-free convenience store that will allow customers to make purchases using a smartphone app. The "grab and go" shop is part of the major chain's attempts to address Japan's labor shortage. Advanced technology allows customers to ...
Japan Railways glitch halts credit card ticket purchases nationwide
Railway firms including East Japan Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co. experienced a technical glitch with their ticketing system Monday morning for nearly five hours that prevented credit card purchases, their ticketing system management company said. Cash purchases and Central Japan Railway Co.'s "Smart ...
Most Japan consumers to continue cashless payments when rebate program ends: survey
Over 86 percent of Japanese consumers plan to continue making cashless purchases even after the government's points-based rebate system concludes in June, a recent study by a Tokyo-based marketing research company has shown. Respondents cited convenience and credit card reward programs for their decision, according ...
Line in 2019 logs biggest net loss since stock market listing
Free messaging app provider Line Corp. on Wednesday reported a group net loss of ¥46.9 billion for the business year that ended in December last year, the biggest such loss at the firm since its stock market debut in 2016. The result, against the net ...
Convenience store sales rose 0.4 percent to a record level last year as the government's measures to spur consumer spending helped offset the impact of the consumption tax hike. Sales on a same-store basis increased for the second straight year to ¥10.34 trillion ($93.84 billion) ...
40% of Japanese consumers make cashless purchases more frequently: survey
About 40 percent of Japanese consumers started to use cashless payments more frequently after the government's introduction of a point reward program for such payments, an industry ministry survey showed Friday. The survey about the point reward program, introduced in October to alleviate negative effects ...
Japanese trends you couldn't have missed in 2019
Amid the hard news of the past year, there were some trends that lit up Japan's media offered the nation a sense of, if not a little hope, at least some relief.
Carrier KDDI and convenience store Lawson to tie up on mobile payments
Mobile phone carrier KDDI Corp. and convenience store operator Lawson Inc. will tie up on smartphone payments and combine their customer loyalty point programs to strengthen competitiveness against rivals, the two companies announced Monday. KDDI, which operates the au Wallet point service for its customers, ...
Line starts bank transfer service via smartphone payment platform
Messaging app provider Line Corp. on Monday started a new service that allows users to transfer money to bank accounts via its smartphone payment platform, a first for Japan in a crowded market. Other mobile payment service providers in the country have enabled transfers between ...
