M-payments platform PayPay, a joint venture between SoftBank and Yahoo Japan, has announced that the number of users registered to the PayPay smartphone payment service reached 25 million on 19 February. PayPay ended November 2019 with more than 20 million smartphone payment service users. The PayPay service is currently available at more than 1.94 million locations. PayPay also reports that the number of payments in single month exceeded 100 million in December 2019.
PayPay launched its smartphone payment service in October 2018. The company says its customer base growth was mainly boosted by the ‘10 Billion Yen Giveaway Campaign’ and the ‘Machikado PayPay Campaign’ held with the Point Reward Project for Consumers using Cashless Payment which started in October 2019. The ‘WakuWaku PayPay Campaign’ is held every month to promote the app and support online shopping and bill payments.
PayPay plans to expand features and services for smartphone payments users, such as the “mini app” which allows customers to order and pay directly from the PayPay app. PayPay customers can currently choose from pre-charged PayPay balance or from credit cards and use at any PayPay merchants and online services.
The PayPay balance can be topped up online from bank accounts and at Seven Bank ATMs. PayPay users can also access features such as ‘Send/Receive’ PayPay balance (PayPay Money, PayPay Money Lite) and ‘Warkian’ for group meals.
