Japanese e-commerce platform Rakuten is set to expand in-store payment system Rakuten Pay to become the first in Japan to support 14 electronic money brands and Android Pay from summer 2017.
Rakuten Pay will allow the company to provide affiliated stores with a single payments service that supports credit cards, electronic money and a smartphone app.
The platform will accept payments made through Rakuten Edy, the electronic money service provided by Rakuten Group, nine electronic money brands affiliated to transport organizations, including Suica and PASMO, nanaco which can be used at Seven & i Holdings retailers across Japan, WAON the electronic money brand provided by the AEON Group, as well as QUICPay+ and iD.
Rakuten Pay will also be compatible with Android Pay as it supports Rakuten Edy.
The company also plans to make the service compatible with payment services based on the Near Field Communication standard, such as Visa payWave, MasterCard Contactless and J/Speedy.
Rakuten in a statement said that Rakuten Card & NFC Reader Elan will also become available for purchase from 6 March 2017. The device enables payment through both credit cards and electronic money.
