SoftBank nears Paytm partnership
TOKYO: SoftBank Group Corp plans to announce within days that it will start a mobile digital payments service in Japan by the end of this year as its billionaire founder Masayoshi Son seeks to expand in the sector, said people familiar with the matter.
The service, a collaboration with Indian startup Paytm, would make extensive use of artificial intelligence for mobile payments and other financial services, said the people.
An announcement was imminent, they said.
Dozens of Paytm employees were working on getting the service up and running, said one of the people.
Son, who created the world’s largest technology investment fund, is moving into a crowded field as local banks and technology companies stake their claims.
Line Corp, Japan’s biggest instant-messaging service, and flea-market app Mercari Inc have both been pushing into digital payments.
Internationally, the sector has yet to see any global leader emerge.
Paypal Holdings Inc, Ant Financial, Tencent Holdings Ltd and Paytm have all become huge, but in limited geographies, while attempts by Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co haven’t gained significant market share.
SoftBank wants the Japanese programme to give the company a launch pad to take the service global as Son seeks to capture a share of the consumer trend away from using cash.
The company, which owns the nation’s No. 3 wireless carrier, could expand the payments system to add financial services such as lending, insurance and other services, said the people.
Recent regulatory changes in Japan that will come into effect in the next two years are expected to accelerate a shift to digital payments, already prompting huge interest from a variety of players including banks.