Half of Japan’s regional banks to back Mizuho Bank’s new cashless payment system
About half of around 100 regional banks in Japan will introduce a new cashless payment system developed by Mizuho Financial Group Inc. starting in late March, sources close to the matter said on Saturday.
Mizuho Bank will launch the J-coin service on March 1, with the regional banks following suit from March 25, they said, according to japantimes.co.jp.
The plan to join the Tokyo-based mega-bank’s J-coin initiative comes at a time the government is pushing to expand the use of cashless payments ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Japan’s aim is to double digital payments so they account for 40 percent of all financial transactions by 2025.
J-coin transactions will be processed through a smartphone app using either a ‘Quick Response’ two-dimensional barcode, a telephone number or the Line messaging app’s personal number for identification.
Unlike prepaid smart cards, which are currently more popular in Japan, the J-coin service allows transactions between individuals and does not require retailers to install dedicated readers.
Since Mizuho plans to join hands with major providers of cashless payment services mainly in Asia, such as China’s Alipay, J-coin could be an attractive alternative for rapidly increasing foreign visitors as cash continues to be the most frequently used form of payment by consumers in the country.
The new service will initially be offered to individuals holding accounts at regional banks, such as Chiba Bank and Nishi-nippon City Bank, according to the sources.
Appliance retailers such as Bic Camera Inc. and Yamada Denki Co. will start adopting the J-coin system in April, with other firms like East Japan Railway Co., convenience store chain Familymart Co. and restaurant operator Royal Holdings Co. considering joining as well.
The Mizuho group hopes to increase the number of companies adopting the service by requiring them to pay lower fees than credit card services.
Hoping to accelerate the use of cashless payments and help cushion the expected impact of the upcoming tax hike this year, the government will give consumers using cashless methods rebates of two percent on purchases made at convenience stores, or five percent at other small or midsize stores, for nine months after the consumption tax is raised from eight percent to 10 percent in October. India can play a key role in Nepal’s bid to expand its international trade being a close neighbor of the landlocked Himalayan nation, a top UN official said.
India is already a major trading partner of Nepal with free movement of goods, services and labor, UN Under-secretary-general and High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (LLDCS) Fekita ‘Utoikamanou said, according to financialexpress.com.
“India is part of Southsouth cooperation which is playing an increasingly important role in addressing the persistent development challenges of vulnerable groups of countries including LLDCS through trade, technology transfer, development finance, infrastructure development and collective solutions to address emerging challenges such as climate change,” she said.
“The Motor Vehicles Agreement of 2015 between Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and India (BBIN) aims to facilitate the movement of cargo across their borders,” Fekita said.
Several railways infrastructure projects in Nepal have been undertaken with India’s assistance, she pointed out.
India can also help Nepal by improving trade facilitation through improved simplification and harmonization of border crossing procedures, she told PTI in the backdrop of the recently-concluded UN Conference on LLDC.
“This can help reduce delays at the borders and trade costs. Both India and Nepal have ratified the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and their enhanced implementation of the agreement will help to achieve improved trade facilitation,” Fekita said.
The LLDCS are amongst some of the most vulnerable countries, she said. “It is one of the three groups of countries that my office has been created to serve and advocate for.
“Some 90 percent of the world’s trade is carried by sea. Their location makes LLDCS isolated from major centers of economic and trade activity and lack economies of scale,” Fekita said, adding these factors make it expensive for LLDCS to conduct trade, attract investment and achieve sustainable development.
The UN Office of the High Representative for LLDC and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) is ensuring effective follow-up, implementation, monitoring and review of the implementation of the Vienna Program of Action, she said.
“It is supporting Nepal as an LLDCS in its efforts to implement the priority areas of the Vienna Program of Action that include fundamental transit policy issues, infrastructure development and maintenance, international trade and trade facilitation, regional integration, structural economic transformation and means of implementation,” the diplomat added.
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