Japan’s Nikkei reported that Tokyo-based mobile payments processor Coiney will soon raise up to 800 million yen (approximately $8 million) from Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, the country’s state-run investment fund which promotes emerging technology businesses. Our readers may recall that the startup raised 500 million yen ($5 million) back in August from Credit Saison, one of Japan’s top credit card companies. The company expects to transact more than 1 trillion yen ($10 billion) through its payment platform in the next five years. Coiney was launched back in March of 2012 by ex-PayPal Japan employee Naoko Samata, and has been providing mobile payments solutions using swipe card readers for smartphones. In Japan, other competitors in this space are Square, Paypal Here, and Rakuten Smartpay. On a related note, it was announced a couple of weeks ago that the aforementioned fund announced will also invest up to 1 billion yen ($10 million) in another payments processor company, Royal Gate.
Japan’s Nikkei reported that Tokyo-based mobile payments processor Coiney will soon raise up to 800 million yen (approximately $8 million) from Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, the country’s state-run investment fund which promotes emerging technology businesses.
Our readers may recall that the startup raised 500 million yen ($5 million) back in August from Credit Saison, one of Japan’s top credit card companies. The company expects to transact more than 1 trillion yen ($10 billion) through its payment platform in the next five years.
Coiney was launched back in March of 2012 by ex-PayPal Japan employee Naoko Samata, and has been providing mobile payments solutions using swipe card readers for smartphones. In Japan, other competitors in this space are Square, Paypal Here, and Rakuten Smartpay.
On a related note, it was announced a couple of weeks ago that the aforementioned fund announced will also invest up to 1 billion yen ($10 million) in another payments processor company, Royal Gate.
See this story in Japanese San Francisco-based Square, the mobile payments service established by Jack Dorsey, looks like it will be planting a firm foothold in Japan soon, partnering with Uniqlo on a pop-up store in Ginza on Friday, October 11. Square officially came to Japan back in May of this year, as you may recall. The aforementioned space will be used to spotlight Uniqlo’s Ultra Light Down jackets, but it will also feature Square’s mobile payment technology as Uniqlo staff will be equipped with iPad’s on site to accept credit card payments. So in this way, customers won’t have to bother with queuing at the register, but can swipe their credit card with any store employee. This marks the first time that a big retailer in Japan is using Square in this way, and Uniqlo has plans to to introduce the technology at other stores later on. With a huge brand like Uniqlo now under its belt, Square should make quick progress convincing other retailers, big and small, to get on board as well. In addition to providing Square mobile payments at this pop-up store, Uniqlo will also feature something it’s calling ‘Uniqlo Color Magic’, which is most likely…
San Francisco-based Square, the mobile payments service established by Jack Dorsey, looks like it will be planting a firm foothold in Japan soon, partnering with Uniqlo on a pop-up store in Ginza on Friday, October 11. Square officially came to Japan back in May of this year, as you may recall.
The aforementioned space will be used to spotlight Uniqlo’s Ultra Light Down jackets, but it will also feature Square’s mobile payment technology as Uniqlo staff will be equipped with iPad’s on site to accept credit card payments. So in this way, customers won’t have to bother with queuing at the register, but can swipe their credit card with any store employee.
This marks the first time that a big retailer in Japan is using Square in this way, and Uniqlo has plans to to introduce the technology at other stores later on. With a huge brand like Uniqlo now under its belt, Square should make quick progress convincing other retailers, big and small, to get on board as well.
In addition to providing Square mobile payments at this pop-up store, Uniqlo will also feature something it’s calling ‘Uniqlo Color Magic’, which is most likely their Magic Mirror display (from Sharp) that they introduced at US locations last year. You can see an example of how that works in the video below.
See also the story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Coiney, a startup focused on providing mobile payments solutions in Japan, announced today that it has raised 500 million yen (over $5 million) from Credit Saison, one of Japanese top credit card companies. I believe the service is definitely making its way into consumers’ daily lives. Coiney was launched back in March of 2012 and has been providing mobile payments solutions using swipe card readers for smartphones. This, of course, puts them in the same space as Square, Paypal Here, and Rakuten Smartpay. Earlier this year, the startup also invited ex-CyberAgent COO Shinichi Saijo to its board of directors, a significant addition to its growing family. We had a chance to speak with the startup’s CEO Naoko Samata and asked her about how they plan to expand their business. Since our last conversation, the company has been focusing on user-safety systems and stability in rather than business expansion. We asked Naoko how they expect to compete against other big other players. She explained: If you see mobile payments as a disruption to the cash market, the potential is huge. I think every single player will evolve the market in different ways. Of course,…
From the left: Takamasa Matsumoto (software designer), Naoko Samata (CEO/founder), and David Asikin (CTO)
Tokyo-based Coiney, a startup focused on providing mobile payments solutions in Japan, announced today that it has raised 500 million yen (over $5 million) from Credit Saison, one of Japanese top credit card companies.
I believe the service is definitely making its way into consumers’ daily lives.
Coiney was launched back in March of 2012 and has been providing mobile payments solutions using swipe card readers for smartphones. This, of course, puts them in the same space as Square, Paypal Here, and Rakuten Smartpay.
Earlier this year, the startup also invited ex-CyberAgent COO Shinichi Saijo to its board of directors, a significant addition to its growing family.
We had a chance to speak with the startup’s CEO Naoko Samata and asked her about how they plan to expand their business. Since our last conversation, the company has been focusing on user-safety systems and stability in rather than business expansion. We asked Naoko how they expect to compete against other big other players. She explained:
If you see mobile payments as a disruption to the cash market, the potential is huge. I think every single player will evolve the market in different ways. Of course, this business needs a certain amount of a solid financial muscle. For us, it is very important to partner with other companies leveraging our business. By joining forces with appropriate partners, we will be able to reach out to more merchants who typically use our service on a daily basis.
According to Samata, more than a few consumers use mobile payments to buy high-value products or services in Japan, which is definitely different from what we’ve being seeing in the US. She shared some of their use cases and insights.
A big volume of our users are in their 40s, and 80% of them are male users. In terms of geographical metrics, it’s about a 50/50 split between urban and rural areas, which goes against our original hypothesis that Tokyoites in their 30s would be most of our user base. The average price per transaction using the service exceeds 10,000 yen ($100), which is certainly higher than the average credit card payments. […] Our customers (merchants) include outdoor tour guides, street-side butchers, flower shops, and souvenir shops. I believe the service is definitely making its way into consumers’ daily lives.
For Coiney, this may be how they differ most from their competitors. The startup aims to be a platform for solutions around money issues rather than just a payment solutions provider. As a part of their efforts on this front, the company plans to provide its payment services APIs to partnering developers. It might be very similar to what we’ve seen around API-based payment processing services such as Stripe, Braintree, and WebPay. Naoko added:
By the end of September, we’re expecting to announce our partners who will be using the closed alpha version of our SDKs. Subsequently we’ll start providing it to partner developers. We’re ready to provide SDKs for both the iOS and Android platforms. Unlike Stripes or Braintree, what we provide is payment solutions for face-to-face purchases. That’s the focus of our business.
With these new funds, the startup expects to double its engineering and business development forces, which is currently a 15-person team. It also expects to enhance its back-end infrastructure and add new models to its card reader line up.
Let’s keep an eye on Coiney to see how it progresses from here.
mobile payments 
Masaru Ikeda
Rick Martin
Takeshi Hirano
