●8.38 million annual tourists from China to become potential customers for LINE Pay merchants in Japan
●Global alliance facilitates shopping for Japan's two largest international tourist groups
TOKYO – August 9, 2019 – LINE Pay Corporation, operator of the LINE Pay mobile money transfer and payment service available on the LINE messaging app, announces that its merchants will begin integrating WeChat Pay from today.
Press release: LINE Pay Announces LINE Pay Global Alliance to Become No. 1 Payment Service for Inbound Tourism
https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2018/2516
Once system integration is complete, WeChat Pay users simply scan a Japanese LINE Pay merchant's QR code to pay with their WeChat Pay balance. Since WeChat Pay is heavily used in China, the service will be particularly convenient for Chinese tourists visiting Japan.*1
For stores and businesses signing up for LINE Pay, not only can they accept NAVER Pay and WeChat Pay as additional payment options as part of the LINE Pay Global Alliance without any need for separate registration or screening, they can also combine and manage payments made with all of the payment options in a single account. Because the global alliance combines the steps to accept multiple payment options into a single, streamlined process, accepting LINE Pay payments from users in Japan and other payment options from international tourists has never been easier. As with LINE Pay, merchants will not be charged any fees for accepting WeChat Pay payments until July 31, 2021.*2
To register, visit the LINE Pay Merchant website at https://pay.line.me/jp/intro?locale=en_US.
Current LINE Pay merchants will also begin a phased integration of WeChat Pay starting today.*2 The WeChat Pay mark is expected to be the indicator for merchants that have completed integration.*3
* This is a one-way payment partnership benefiting WeChat Pay users traveling to Japan. LINE Pay is not accepted at WeChat Pay payment locations in China.
*1 LINE Pay currently does not accept WeChat Pay payments based on pre-registered credit cards.
*2 Includes merchants using the LINE Pay Terminal, printed QR codes, or the LINE Pay for Merchants app wherein users scan a QR code.
*3 Starting today, LINE Pay Corporation will begin sending out the WeChat Pay mark and other material to merchants that have finished integrating WeChat Pay.
Furthermore, the new QR code that enables merchants to accept WeChat Pay payments will be available for download from the Merchant Center website from August 14.
LINE Pay hopes to boost mobile payments for LINE Pay merchants in Japan by reinforcing support for international tourists while continuing to carry out promotional activities to increase LINE Pay use among users in Japan.
User benefits
WeChat is a social media platform with over 1.118 billion users, offering a variety of services accessible from within the app including WeChat Pay. The payment service’s latest integration with LINE Pay enables users to pay at LINE Pay-affiliated stores in Japan with their WeChat Pay balance just by scanning the LINE Pay QR code at the POS. This is especially convenient for tourists because they can use their accustomed payment service, and eliminate the hassle of buying yen or using other payment options just for their trip.
Merchant benefits
Following the integration in June with NAVER Pay, a payment option popular among Koreans who are the second largest group of international tourists in Japan (estimated at 7.5 million per year based on a study by the Japan National Tourism Organization in 2018), LINE Pay merchants in Japan can begin accepting payments from 8.38 million annual Chinese tourists—the largest group of international tourists in Japan. As digital payments soar among users in Japan, inbound tourism will become an additional key revenue source for LINE Pay merchants. Furthermore, the application and settlement processes are streamlined so that using multiple payment options will not impose any inefficient procedures on merchants.
User safety and security
The partnership scope between LINE Pay and WeChat Pay will enable WeChat Pay users to make purchases from LINE Pay merchants in Japan by scanning the QR code the merchants display at the POS. This involves connecting to WeChat Pay's payment system. User data is always contained within the service used to make a purchase, and never shared between the platforms.
WeChat Pay Overview
Operator: Tencent Holdings Limited
Platform: WeChat (social media app)
Number of users: 1.118 billion (as of July 2019)
Number of WeChat Pay users: undisclosed
LINE Pay closes the distance between people, money, and services by eliminating existing pain-points – time, effort, fees, and more – of circulating money. The company also aims to lead the mobile Fintech industry as the world moves increasingly towards a cashless and walletless society.
LINE Pay Corporation overview (as of April 2019)
Company name: LINE Pay Corporation
Head office: Sumitomo Fudosan Osaki Garden Tower 22F, 1-1-1 Nishishinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Yongsu Ko, Representative Director and Chief Executive Officer
Capital: JPY 13.6 billion
Established: May 9, 2014
Primary businesses: Issuance, sale, and management of electronic money and other types of electronic value information and advance payment methods, provision of electronic settlement systems, fund transfer business, sale and management of LINE Official Account, operation of LINE Kakeibo, service development, and advertising agency business
LINE Pay Corporation is a registered member of the following organization and has obtained the following registrations in association with the launch of its business:
- Issuers of Prepaid Payment Instruments for Third-Party Business (Registration number: Director of the Kanto Finance Bureau 00669, Registration date: October 1, 2014)
- Funds Transfer Service Providers (Registration number: Director of the Kanto Finance Bureau 00036, Registration date: October 1, 2014)
- Japan Payment Service Association (http://www.s-kessai.jp, Admission date: August 6, 2014)
- Electronic Payment Service Provider (Registration number: Director of the Kanto Finance Bureau [Electronic Payment Service Provider] No. 10, Registration date: December 20, 2018)
- Credit Card Bango To Toriatsukai Keiyaku Teiketsu Jigyosha (Provisional translation: Registered business operator handling credit card numbers) (Registration number: Kanto [Business Operator Handling Credit Card Numbers] No. 80, Registration date: April 1, 2019)
- Japan Consumer Credit Association (https://www.j-credit.or.jp/en, Admission date: April 1, 2019