● LINE’s new business vision unveiled: “Life on LINE”
● Announced intention to become “life infrastructure” that will support all aspects of users’ lives
● New strategy will focus on bolster initiatives in the three areas of “Offline”, “Fintech”, and “AI”
TOKYO – June 27, 2019 – LINE Corporation (“LINE”) held its business strategy conference LINE CONFERENCE 2019 today.
1）Keynote: “Life on LINE”
Sessions and speakers
Jungho Shin (CWO)
Takeshi Idezawa (CEO)
2）Communication Platform
Ayumi Inagaki (Head of LINE Platform Planning)
3）Contents Platform
Takeshi Shimamura (CEO of Portal Company)
4）Entertainment Platform
Jun Masuda (CSMO)
5）Mobile Payment Platform
Hisahiro Chofuku (COO, LINE Pay Corporation)
6）Financial Platform
Takeshi Idezawa
7）Commerce Platform
Hideo Fuji (CEO of O2O Company)
8）Marketing Solution Platform
Yuki Ikehata (Head of Advertising Business)
9）AI/Search
Jun Masuda
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1）Keynote “Life on LINE”
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The Keynote presentation marked the first time that CWO Jungho Shin made an appearance at LINE CONFERENCE. During the speech, CWO Shin reaffirmed LINE’s core value of “WOW”—as encapsulated in his own title of Chief WOW Officer—and explained that at the crux of “WOW” was innovation. Delving even further, he stated that the type of innovation the company was pursuing was society-changing “lifestyle innovation” that would deliver an unprecedented user experience. Shin went on to announce the company’s new vision as “Life on LINE”, under which LINE will pursue “WOW” by becoming a “life infrastructure” that leverages lifestyle innovations to support all aspects of users’ lives 24/7. Putting forward the three strategies of “Offline”, “Fintech”, and “AI”, LINE will focus on initiatives in these three areas as it endeavors to make “Life on LINE” into a reality.
Up until now, expansion from online into offline happened under the straightforward concept of O2O (connecting online and offline). LINE, however, will aim to make its “Life on LINE” vision into reality by going beyond simple online-offline linking and actually uniting the digital and real world: the concept of “Online Merges with Offline” (abbreviated as OMO). By expanding the LINE app beyond the online realm and into the offline one and creating a hub for both, the company intends to make the lives of its user even more convenient and comfortable.
The LINE Mini App (styled as “LINE Mini app”) was also unveiled, and introduced as one of the means to help propel the “Life on LINE” vision.
Brand new service platform: LINE Mini App (soft launch in fall 2019, full launch in spring 2020)
The LINE Mini App is a new service platform that will be built inside the LINE app. At present, users either need to download separate apps or search the web and visit websites for specific services or information. However, the LINE Mini App will make it possible to search for services and information all from within the LINE app, offering a user experience that seamlessly blurs the line between online and offline.
The LINE Mini App will enable companies and retailers to create their own page within the LINE app and list information about their services (for example, menus and prices), as well as take reservations, issue coupons, and set up loyalty cards. The notification feature can also be effectively leveraged to communicate with individual users. For example, a dry cleaning business may set up a membership card, loyalty card, and payment feature on their LINE Mini App page, and have their official account notify users when their orders have been received, and when they can pick up their clothes.
Backed by the LINE app’s 80 million domestic MAU and countless number of Official Accounts used by companies, retailers, and service providers, the company will aim for, and further proceed with preparations for building an OMO service that only LINE can create.
In the second half of the Keynote, CEO Takeshi Idezawa took to the stage to announce today’s launch of LINE’s brand-new scoring service, LINE SCORE. At the same time, he reasserted the company’s commitment to upholding its responsibility as a platformer as it sets out on its new path toward “Life on LINE”—striving to ensure that even more users are able to both enjoy and have peace of mind when using LINE’s services.
Scoring service: LINE Score (available from today)
The company announced the launch of LINE’s proprietary scoring service, which is available from today through LINE Credit Corporation (“LINE Credit”), a group company of LINE Financial Corporation (“LINE Financial”; provider of LINE’s financial services). Utilizing a proprietary AI-driven scoring model, LINE Score is available to the LINE app’s more than 80 million MAU in Japan, and is easily accessed via the in-app LINE Wallet tab. The service will provide promotions, deals, and a range of other benefits customized to each individual user’s score.
All users will be asked to agree to the terms and conditions of use before they can start using the service, and as such, data will never be calculated or utilized by default under a user’s current LINE settings. Additionally, each time a user makes use of a benefit offered by a partner company, they will need to consent to having their data shared with the company in question.
*Please see the following press release for more information: https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2019/2771
Responsibility as a platformer: Focus on complete privacy and developing leaders of the future
Since launching the LINE messaging app in 2011, LINE has endeavored to provide a communication service that users can both enjoy and feel at ease using. As the company has diversified into other services and content—not to mention its current focus on new business domains such as Fintech and AI—it has taken every effort to formulate rules based on the GDPR and other unique regulations of different countries, provide sufficient explanations to users and obtain their consent for new services and processing personal information, and enforce rigorous review processes. In addition to regulatory compliance, the company has also released a transparency report on how it handles personal information, and undertaken many other initiatives to create an environment that will allow users to safely and securely use LINE services. Going forward, LINE will continue to prioritize user peace of mind and put privacy at the forefront of its services.
Additionally, LINE will focus on education for the next generation’s leaders. As the world becomes increasingly digitalized, the company has determined that it will be essential to not only continue with its educational programs on using the LINE app, but to also cultivate service creators. With this in mind, it announced plans to launch a new program around summer called LINE Entry (styled as “LINE entry”), which will provide a programming course meant to develop service creators of the future.
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2）Communication Platform
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LINE messaging app called OpenChat. With over 80 million MAU in Japan using the LINE app to keep in touch with friends and family, LINE will continue to place this communication between loved ones as the app’s core value, while now also aiming to become a more integrated part of users’ day-to-day life through more personalized communication and information.
New communication feature: OpenChat (available in Japan from summer 2019)
Nowadays, the LINE app is being used to communicate in increasingly diverse ways and scenarios. It is against this background that LINE decided to introduce the new OpenChat feature to provide easier and stress-free group communication, no matter the situation. With OpenChat, users will be able to create groups based on specific interests to discuss and collect information. The feature puts the focus on group chats, allowing users to change their display names for different chat groups, or view past chats up to a certain period even after joining later on. It also comes with an admin feature that can approve who joins a chat group, or set up a room code that only specific people can receive. With chatroom members communicating and providing each other with information in real-time, users will be able to obtain valuable information just by joining or searching a chat.
In the lead-up to launch, LINE is now looking for users interested in testing out the service before it goes live. More details can be found at the page below.
http://official-blog.line.me/ja/archives/79448193.html
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3）Content Platform
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Striving to become news fit for the smartphone generation, LINE NEWS now boasts 65 million MAU and over 10 billion monthly PVs (as of May 2019). Partnering with over 900 media to deliver more than 7,000 personalized contents daily to 65 million users, LINE NEWS continues to grow into one of Japan’s largest content platforms. During this session, Takeshi Shimamura—the CEO of Portal Company—made two announcements on the platform’s newest initiative.
Announcement of TV broadcaster partnership for highlight replays, with TV Tokyo as first partner | Launching for select programs in summer 2019 in Japan)
The company unveiled the “Replay Cast” concept, which will see television broadcasters notify users in real-time about highlights of their currently airing programs. Specifically, users will receive a real-time push notification on LINE linking them to “highlight footage” from a program currently airing simultaneously on television and online. Opening the notification will take the user directly to the highlight footage on LINE NEWS, and they can then continue watching the broadcast online. The first partner signed on to the initiative is TV Tokyo, and push notifications will start reaching users for certain programs from summer in Japan.
VISION video project for LINE NEWS launches, allowing creators to let loose their creativity
Aiming to create a new video culture for smartphones, VISION video project was released on LINE NEWS on June 26, a place for creators to unleash their creative talents. It offers vertical video content that is posted in the News tab within the LINE app. Leading creators in the video and film industry, such as Masahiko Sato, Kundo Koyama, and Gakuto Akashi, will take part, with plans to open up applications and carry out other activities to expand and support the number of productions and creators in future.
*Please see the following press release for more information: https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2019/2762
LINE NEWS will continue to grow beyond a news platform and transform into a content platform that covers all types of media ranging from television, and paper media, to creator-made content.
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4）Entertainment Platform
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In the entertainment of today, where information is created through social networking sites and other forms of communication, it has become important for content creators (artists and streamers) to close the distance between themselves and their fans and share their passion together. In this session, CSMO Jun Masuda introduced the concept of a new entertainment experience that places communication front and center.
LINE Creators Market
・Unlimited creator stickers with new subscription service: LINE Stickers Premium (available from July 2019)
LINE Stickers Premium is a subscription service which will give users unlimited use of more than three million sets of creator stickers. Worth approximately JPY 380 million on the Creators Market, users will have access to these stickers for a flat monthly fee of JPY 240 (JPY 120 for students).
LINE LIVE
This live streaming platform provides the opportunity for aspiring models, voice actors, and anyone else with ambitions to make their dreams come true, offering a place where they can become “LINE LIVERs” (pronounced “lahyv-er” as in “live show”) and build up a fandom with their fans. Along with providing technical support, the platform will enable streamers to more effectively show off their skills and better connect with passionate fans.
・Space for fellow fans to gather: Premium Channel (launching in July 2019)
The Premium Channel is a feature that will allow users to watch exclusive live streams for a monthly fee. With this, a select few viewers with the same aims can gather and enjoy talking with each other, bringing them closer to their favorite LINE LIVER and making it easier to form fandoms and make dreams come true.
・Enjoy shopping while watching live streams: LIVE Commerce (launching in 2020)
The LIVE Commerce feature allows users to shop while watching and communicating through live streams. Viewers can shop while finding out more information on products by asking questions and commenting in real time. Exclusive LINE LIVER goods will also be available as another way for streamers to interact with their fans.
LINE MUSIC (as of May 2019)
- Number of downloads: Over 32 million
- Number of songs: Over 54 million
- Number of MAU: Over 11 million
LINE MUSIC has grown into one of Japan’s leading streaming music services. Today, the service announced new developments that will create even more opportunities for users to meet music they will love.
・Massive UI overhaul, and major update to include features such as AI-based recommendations (launching fall 2019)
The upcoming update will add light and dark themes that users can switch between as they please, an equalizer with which sound quality can be adjusted, and a new and improved, more beautiful UI that makes it easier to dive right into the music. Additionally, the service will make it easier for users to personalize their listening with daily updated playlists based on different moods and genres, and auto-playing radio stations for different situations and music categories. Lastly, a simple recommended playlist and voice search function utilizing AI and OCR technologies will be added.
・Enjoy hit music videos of the moment with MUSIC VIDEO (launching in summer 2019)
With this brand-new feature, users will be able to watch the music videos of artists whose music they have taken a liking too, all from within the LINE MUSIC app.
・All-new freemium model ONE PLAY (tentative) (launching fall 2019)
This original freemium model will allow users to listen to 54 million songs as much as they want. Tentatively named ONE PLAY, the plan will let users listen to one song at a time in full without any time limits on listening again. The vast number of available songs will mean that users can immediately check out songs mentioned by their friends or popular tunes of the moment, making it easier than ever to find their next favorite artist.
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5）Mobile Payment Platform
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As the world has become increasingly cashless, LINE has also placed the cashless domain as one of its strategic businesses. Under this strategy, continued investment in its digital wallet service LINE Pay has led to its robust growth. As of June 2019, the service has reached over 48 million users across Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.
[Taiwan and Thailand]
In Taiwan, the service has become the country’s number one mobile payment service: in the past year, the number of users has increased from 2.9 million to 6.3 million, the penetration rate has reached 30%, and awareness has reached 83%. Similarly, in Thailand, the number of registrations increased over the past year from 3.1 million to around 6 million.
Since fall 2018, both Taiwanese and Thai users have been able to use LINE Pay to pay for select modes of transport.
[Japan]
In Japan, several large-scale campaigns have increased the number of users to around 36 million.
First initiative from the Starbucks Coffee Japan and LINE partnership
LINE Starbucks Card tops one million cardholders in 2.5 months since launch
Since announcing their partnership in December 2018, Starbucks Coffee Japan and LINE embarked on their first initiative together with the April 2019 launch of the LINE Starbucks Card. The card has been positively received in the 2.5 months since, with over one million issued. The LINE Starbucks Card can be readily issued from within the LINE app, and users can also automatically join Starbucks’ loyalty program, Starbucks Rewards. At the time the card was introduced, around 3.3 million people were Starbucks Rewards members. However, following the launch of the card, another one million new members have since joined. The two partners will build on this and continue working together to come up with even more convenient services for users.
Visa, Orico, and LINE Pay partner and agree to issue Visa Credit Card
Visa Worldwide Japan Co Ltd (“Visa”), Orient Corporation (“Orico”), and LINE Pay Corporation (“LINE Pay”) have partnered and agreed to issue the LINE Pay Visa Credit Card, which will offer customers high rewarding points. With the issuing of this card, the three companies will provide all-new credit card services and contribute to establishing a cashless society in Japan.
Special design announced for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
A special card design commemorating the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics was announced.
*Please see the following press release for more information: https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2019/2766
NTT DOCOMO joins LINE Pay and Merpay in Mobile Payment Alliance (MoPA) to accelerate spread of cashless payments
LINE Pay, Merpay Inc. (“Merpay”), and NTT DOCOMO Inc. (“DOCOMO”), have signed a letter of intent for a business alliance to make cashless transactions more widely available. Additionally, DOCOMO will join the Mobile Payment Alliance (MoPA) of merchant stores established by LINE Pay and Merpay to further popularize cashless payments in Japan.
*Please see the following press release for more information: https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2019/2767
Under the LINE Pay Global Alliance—which aims to partner with other payment services—LINE Pay formed a new business alliance with Korean company NHN Payco (provider of the Payco payment service) earlier this month, catering to both inbound tourists and users traveling in either Japan or Korea. Additionally, LINE Pay also kicked off its partnership from June 17 with another Korean service NAVER Pay, which will allow NAVER Pay users visiting Japan to make payments with LINE Pay merchants.
Along with the Global Alliance, LINE Pay will continue to pursue its global strategy to develop the LINE Pay service into Asia’s biggest mobile payments platform.
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6）Financial Platform
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In this session, CEO Idezawa reaffirmed the company’s goal of making LINE Wallet the starting point for the seamless movement of money, and to that end, would continue to strengthen its financial-related initiatives as it works toward actualizing “Life on LINE” on its Fintech platform.
With preparations for a banking business already underway in the company’s overseas markets, LINE also declared its intent to become Asia’s largest payment and banking platform. Other information provided during the talk included the recent achievements of the company’s financial services, and progress of the aforementioned preparations.
LINE Securities (launching in fall 2019)
LINE Financial Corporation (“LINE Financial”) and Nomura Holdings Inc.’s (“Nomura”) joint venture company LINE Securities Corporation (“LINE Securities”) announced that it would launch the LINE Securities service on the LINE app this fall. The service will feature hand-picked stocks from 100 leading companies in Japan and allow users to start investing from around the price of JPY 150 (minimum) to JPY 3,000 (average) per stock. A simple and intuitive UI/UX will also aim to make the service accessible from the get-go for both seasoned and inexperienced investors. Additionally, real-time trading will be open until 9 pm on weekdays, making it possible for even the busiest professionals to invest.
LINE Pocket Money (launching in summer 2019)
This summer, LINE Credit Corporation* (“LINE Credit”) will launch the unsecured personal loan service LINE Pocket Money, and add it to the lineup of benefits for LINE Score users. The new service will determine annual interest rates and credit limits most suitable for each individual user based on their score from LINE Score. In the lead-up to the official launch, the company intends to develop a service model that is a go-to option for unplanned expenses, and make it possible to complete the entire process—application, borrowing, and lastly, repayments—on the LINE app. More details will be announced when LINE Pocket Money is released.
*LINE Credit is a joint venture established between LINE Financial, Mizuho Bank Ltd., and Orient Corporation.
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7）Commerce Platform
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The LINE Commerce Platform, comprised of three services – LINE Shopping, LINE Delima, and LINE Travel – has been launching new services that especially focus on OMO (Online Merges with Offline) since last year. During the conference, LINE announced the latest performance results and plans of each service.
LINE Travel
Since launching in June 2018, LINE Travel has been steadily expanding its service scope to achieve a 456% quarterly GMV growth rate from Q4 2018 to Q1 2019. A new service, Odekake NOW, will be released to further promote OMO activities.
Odekake NOW (launching today)
Odekake NOW is a new search service that will be made available in LINE Travel. Based on their current location, users can search for and book nearby restaurants, events, and recreations. The service is integrated with food websites Ozmall and Ikyu.com Restaurant, recreational activity websites Asoview and Walker plus, and many other food and activity booking websites to offer users an easy way to make trip plans on LINE.
*Please see the following press release for more information: https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2019/2765
LINE Shopping
A variety of KPIs show LINE Shopping’s steady service expansion, including a 167% GMV growth between 2017 and 2018, and more than 27 million registered users to date.
SHOPPING GO is one of LINE Shopping’s services focusing on OMO that enables users to earn LINE Points when they make purchases at offline stores. In addition to enabling users to search for participating stores based on their current location, the service functions as a touch point between users and stores in many ways including offering digital membership cards and linking with LINE Pay. Thanks to such functionalities that have been well received by both users and shops alike, SHOPPING GO’s quarterly GMV has doubled from Q4 2018 to Q1 2019.
LINE Delima
LINE Delima has over 16,500 participating stores since launching two years ago, and its annual GMV has grown 179% from Q4 2018 to Q1 2019. To help promote OMO activities, LINE announced that it will officially launch the LINE Pockeo take-out service.
LINE Pockeo (officially launching today)
LINE Pockeo is an all-inclusive take-out service that lets users search for restaurants, place their orders, and prepay, all using LINE. The service enlisted Gusto, Bamiyan, and Jonathan’s as the first list of partners on August 18, followed by Matsuya, Matsunoya, and Chicken-tei on June 18 before fully launching today. Additionally, LINE Pockeo is opening up the service to small and medium-sized eateries with LINE Pockeo for biz, a tablet-based order system which will enable them to offer a take-out service to their customers without having to prepare their own infrastructure. (Applications for LINE Pockeo for biz are accepted from today.) Furthermore, the limited Pockeo 100 Yen Menu campaign starting today will offer Matsuya’s regular-sized gyudon (beef on rice), the wafu teritama hamburg (teriyaki sauce meat patty with fried egg) from Jonathan’s, and other meals for only JPY 100 (including tax).
*Please see the following press release for more information: https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2019/2764
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8）Marketing Solution Platform
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In this session, LINE announced its goal of becoming a “Life-marketing Platform” in which LINE will subtly support users’ lives in a variety of ways. The project to make LINE a marketing platform is based on two important concepts—increasing touchpoints with users and offering personalized data, a concept LINE calls “Comfortable Personalization.” Through these efforts, LINE hopes to provide useful, relevant information to users when they need it most.
Smart Channel to serve video ads (launching in fall 2019)
Since the end of 2018, weather, news, disaster alerts, and other content as well as ads have been served to the top of the chat tab on LINE. This ad space is called Smart Channel, and it will begin supporting video content. When users tap on a Smart Channel banner, it expands to play a video, enabling advertisers to deliver rich content to users. Users can also enjoy watching their favorite television commercials and get the latest information on upcoming products, all on LINE. Smart Channel’s support for videos is expected to undergo phased testing in preparation for its official launch in fall 2019.
LINE Ads Platform for Publisher (launching in summer 2019)
LINE will release a new LINE Ads Platform for Publishers, a new ad network based on the LINE Ads Platform. The ad network allows third-party services to serve ads using data LINE currently uses to serve personalized ads to the LINE messaging app and LINE’s other services’ various ad locations. The ad network also allows third parties to share users’ browsing and online activity histories with LINE so that users can receive the most relevant information anywhere they turn. LINE plans to officially announce the project details and the first group of partners around the end of July.
LINE Flyer (launching in October 2019)
Flyers and direct mails, two conventional offline advertising methods, are going digital. LINE users will receive personalized advertisements based on their preferences, area of residence, the time of day, and other conditions. To view them, users tap on the LINE Flyer screen from LINE Timeline, Smart Channel, or the LINE Wallet. Users can also save their preferred stores in Favorites to check and compare individual product prices in LINE Flyer, ensure that they receive the information they need through the LINE Official Account, and more. The service also uses LINE Beacon to inform customers of sales going on when they visit participating stores.
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9）AI/Search
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This session presented new ways to use the Clova AI assistant, the LINE BRAIN AI solution business, and LINE’s intention to enter the search engine business.
Partnership with Richmond Hotels and BMT
As part of its efforts to increase Clova’s use cases in the hotel industry, LINE is entering into a partnership with RNT Hotels Co. Ltd., operator of Richmond Hotels, and Bridge Motion Tomorrow Co. Ltd., provider of solutions for hotel guest rooms. The three companies are partnering to offer greater convenience to hotel guests by installing Clova-embedded devices in guest rooms so that guests can ask Clova for directions to the nearest convenience store instead of calling the front desk, get Clova to turn on the television or room lights, and more.
Implementation of Clova in Gatebox
The Gatebox production model is linking with Clova to expand the skills and conversational patterns of Gatebox’s original avatar, Azuma Hikari. Distributed by Gatebox Inc., a LINE Group company, the Gatebox production version will not only give users access to basic Clova skills such as checking the weather and news, but also combine Clova’s technologies – voice synthesis and the conversation engine – to make Clova sound as close to a real person as possible, much like having a lively conversation with a voice actor.
Furthermore, LINE is launching a business partner program that aims to promote businesses to use Gatebox. Specifically, the Gatebox platform will be opened up to third parties to encourage external partners to use Gatebox in a variety of business scenes and new services.
LINE Car Navigator (launching in as early as September 2019)
In addition to the ongoing service development project with Toyota Motor Corporation (“Toyota”) to embed Clova in vehicles, LINE announced a new app, the LINE Car Navigator. The app is a combination of Toyota’s navigation system and its up-to-date, cloud-based big data, and Clova’s convenient VUI. Using LINE Car Navigator, drivers and passengers can use voice control to check the weather of their destination, play music, send and receive LINE messages, search for routes, and operate the navigator in other ways. The service is also available as an independent app and supports Smart Device LINK (SDL) that links smartphones and in-vehicle devices so that it can also be used in other vehicles. LINE Car Navigator is expected to be available as a free service in as early as September 2019. LINE aims to increase the safety and convenience of users’ road trips through the service.
LINE BRAIN
LINE is launching LINE BRAIN, a new corporate business that leverages LINE’s AI technologies accumulated over the years through Clova and other businesses. A line up of products will go on sale starting in July 2019, including LINE BRAIN CHATBOT (AI chatbot technology), LINE BRAIN OCR (character recognition technology), and LINE BRAIN SPEECH TO TEXT (voice recognition technology).
Furthermore, LINE is developing a new service that combines LINE BRAIN’s voice recognition, chatbot, and voice synthesis technologies to build an AI-based auto-response service as CSMO Masuda demonstrated during this session.
*Please see the following press release for more information: https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2019/2770
SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, LINE, and Itochu Corporation sign MOU for alliance
SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, LINE Corporation, and Itochu Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding for an alliance to commercialize a “next-generation television set” that offers a new user experience. Based on this MOU, the three companies plan to begin conducting a proof of concept.
*Please see the following press release for more information: https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2019/2768
LINE signs MOU with Dialpad to co-develop voice recognition AI technology
Dialpad Inc. and LINE Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding to discuss joint development and updating of AI technologies that will be part of LINE BRAIN including voice recognition (Speech To Text).
*Please see the following press release for more information: https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2019/2769
LINE Search (comprehensive search service, launching in as early as July 2019)
LINE will be launching a comprehensive search service, LINE Search, that uses an optimal method to provide users with data available on LINE. With LINE Search, users can search through LINE’s entire database including their own chats, Official Accounts, LINE NEWS, LINE Manga, LINE MUSIC, and other LINE services. The service also allows users to conduct a category-based search for famous influencers.
LINE ASK me offering lawyer consultations (launching in as early as September 2019)
During the conference, LINE unveiled LINE ASK me, a new one-on-one platform that lets users book consultations or place requests based on their search results. In addition to Talk Fortune that connects users with over 1,000 fortune tellers of different genres, and Talk CARE offering a variety of experts, Bengo4.com Inc. joins the team to offer legal advice to users over LINE. The service hopes to continue to expand the genre of consultation services users can access through LINE.
LINE STEP (location review app, launching in July 2019)
Following the LINE CONOMI food review app, LINE launches LINE STEP, a service that allows users to post reviews and search for restaurants and recreation centres. It is expected to link with LINE Search to boost user action such as reserving a restaurant or shop that they search for.
LINE is transforming from a messaging app to a “lifestyle infrastructure.” LINE will continue to challenge itself in all of its business domains to enrich users’ lives, provide more convenience, and achieve its new corporate vision—Life on LINE.