cashless
PayPay Corporation announces that the number of "PayPay" payments in 2024 has exceeded 7.46 billion, accounting for approximately 1 in 5 of the total 38.8 billion cashless payments in Japan. The total number of QR code payments increased by 23% year-on-year to over 11.5 billion,
digital
Digital Garage has integrated three group companies - Naviplus (main business: marketing support for EC businesses), DG Commerce (main business: EC site development), and Scudet (main business: fraud detection and prevention solutions) - and launched a new company, DG Business Technology, to provide comprehensive digital business support. Under the group
payments
Filippino conglomerate Ayala and Mitsubishi have executed an investment agreement for the Japanese multinational’s acquisition of a 6.5% stake in e-wallet giant GCash, according to a stock exchange filing. Mitsubishi will subscribe to 18.03 million common and redeemable preferred shares of AC Ventures Holding (ACV), which holds
stablecoin
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, TIS, Ava Labs, and Fireblocks have signed a basic agreement concerning joint exploration of stablecoin utilization with a view toward future commercialization. Overview of the Agreement SMBC Group, TIS, Ava Labs, and Fireblocks have formally agreed to begin joint exploration of stablecoin
banking
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company announced that the number of accounts opened for "Olive," a comprehensive financial service for individual customers, has surpassed 5 million. Olive is a completely new service that seamlessly combines bank accounts, card payments, financing, online securities, online insurance, and
venture capital
Vertex Ventures Japan (VVJ) has completed the first closing of its inaugural fund, Vertex Ventures Japan Fund I (“VVJFI”), targeting JPY 10bn. This milestone was achieved with the participation of LP investors representing key sectors across industry, government, and academia, with the support of government institutions. VVJ will commence investments
insurtech
hokan has completed an MVP implementation of its SaaS "hokan®︎" at the Consulting Sales Headquarters of ORIX Life Insurance. Following the MVP, the system will be used at all branches from April 2025 onwards. ORIX Life Insurance's Consulting Sales Division sells insurance with the mission of
payments
"elepay bill payment" is a service that allows users to create invoices on the "elepay" management screen or through API integration. Until now, payment methods such as bank transfers and credit cards have been mainstream in Business-to-Consumer (B2C) businesses. "elepay" is a cashless specialized
payments
Episode Six (E6), a global provider of ledger and cards infrastructure, has secured a strategic investment from Japan Airlines (JAL), a longstanding customer of E6 since 2017. This investment allows JAL to contribute to E6’s ongoing success while advancing its financial services initiatives, including JAL Pay, the core payments
Insurance
Smartpay, provider of the "Smartpay" Buy Now Pay Later service, is launching embedded insurance products in the Japanese market, following one year of partnership with Chubb Insurance Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of Chubb Group, a world leader in insurance. Smartpay and Chubb Japan plan to provide their first
neobank
Osaka-based Senshu Ikeda Holdings, a financial services group that offers banking, securities, leasing, and other services, has been granted a banking license for its digital "01Bank". Senshu Ikeda disclosed its intention to launch a digital bank business in September 2023, and established a preparatory entity in February 2024.
corporate venture capital
Hitachi has announced the establishment of the fourth fund of the corporate venture capital (CVC) fund "HV Fund" with a purpose to identify startups with the potential to create or disrupt large attractive markets, anticipate the next technological and social turning points, and generate future growth opportunities. The