Aiming for expansion of member stores and further comprehensive efforts by strengthening mutual collaboration.
Joint development of a brand-customized terminal available at low cost for Japanese market.
Netstars Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Representative director, president and CEO: Tsuyoshi Ri. Hereinafter called “Netstars”) has entered into a capital and business collaboration agreement with LINE Corporation (Head office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. Representative director and president: Takeshi Idezawa. Hereinafter called “LINE”) and LINE Pay Corporation (Head office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. Representative director and CEO: Youngsu Ko. Hereinafter called “LINE Pay”) which is a subsidiary of LINE and operates a mobile remittance/payment service called “LINE Pay” on a communication application called “LINE” and agreed to joint development of multi-payment payment gateway systems.
Netstars has been providing a payment service by smartphone for tourists who visit Japan called “WeChat Pay” since 2015 as a business partner of Tencent Holdings Limited for the first time in Japan. Netstars has been developing and selling “StarPay Terminal” which enables payment by QR/bar code on a smartphone of each brand by using one terminal since 2017, and such terminals have already been installed at over 10,000 stores in Japan.
Netstars and LINE Pay executed an agreement on development and administrative work of member stores on October 1, 2017, which has enabled payment by “LINE Pay” on the “StarPay Terminal”. On the background of a lot of results of payments by “LINE Pay” code at stores such as Loft and Aqua City Odaiba since the last year’s collaboration, Netstars has entered into a capital and business collaboration agreement with LINE and LINE Pay for the purposes of strengthening collaboration in expanding its member stores and further comprehensive efforts among them.
As main efforts under this collaboration, we will conduct further cooperation for expanding the member stores available for payments by code to enable cashless and walletless payment, as well as customize the multi-payment terminal “StarPay Terminal” in line with the brand of “LINE Pay” and deploy such terminals to the member stores as part of enhancement of awareness of the service at companies and stores or branding at stores. In the future, Netstars plans to provide the member stores of LINE Pay with the terminals customized with a logo and brand color of “LINE Pay”.
Netstars and LINE Pay strives to promptly improve an environment to enable users to do shopping anywhere only with smartphone, jointly promoting the development of the member stores through enhancement of mutual cooperation.
Terminal for payment by LINE Pay
The “StarPay Terminal” is a multi-payment terminal compatible with “LINE Pay” as well as other payment services by code for inbound visitors and available in Japan. Its cost is overwhelmingly low *1 in comparison with the terminals for payment by credit cards, and it can be compatible with mobile payment only by introducing it after execution of a member store agreement. Moreover, it can automatically meet inbound demand, as one of its strengths. For introduction of payment by “LINE Pay”, various methods are available in accordance with the usage situation of payment or budget of each company or store, but the “StarPay Terminal” has already been installed at a lot of companies and stores as an easy-to-use and well-balanced terminal for both stores and users.
Note:
*1: Suggested retail price: 35,000 Japanese Yen /unit (exclusive of tax)
n Comment from Youngsu Ko, representative director and CEO of LINE Pay Corporation
LINE Pay is developing its business in order to eliminate various frictions such as time, labor or service fee arising out of money distribution and to bring people close to money and services. We aim to become a company leading the mobile Fintech world for realization of cashless/walletless society. We believe that strengthening collaboration with Netstars Co., Ltd. that has developed and offered an advanced terminal for Fintech payment and that has a lot of results in global mobile payments is a steady step to our goal of achieving 1 million member stores available for code payments by LINE Pay by the end of 2018. We strive to realize an environment to enable people to use the LINE Pay anywhere through firm cooperation between both companies.
n Comment from Tsuyoshi Ri, representative director and CEO of Netstars Co., Ltd.
Netstars has been developing and providing Fintech services in Japan since its establishment as a business partner of Chinese advanced companies such as Tencent Holdings Limited. We are very happy that we can provide member stores of “LINE Pay” with the technologies of services we have developed until now for payment by smartphone, thanks to this capital and business alliance with LINE Pay Corporation. Through this business cooperation with LINE Pay Corporation, we strive to contribute to spreading the Fintech services and realizing a cashless society in Japan, by creating an environment where 73 million active users of “LINE” on a monthly basis can use the payment by “LINE Pay” more enjoyably and conveniently.
< Profile of LINE Corporation >
< Profile of Netstars Co., Ltd. >
Main business outline: Mobile payment service, multi-payment gateway service and inbound promotion
< Profile of LINE Pay Corporation (as of December 11, 2017) >
– Issuance, sale and management of electronic money, other electronic value information and advance payment methods, provision of electronic payment systems, fund transfer business
– Sale and operation of “LINE@”
– Service development business
– Advertising agency business
<Contact for this press release>
Persons in charge: Yamaguchi and Morita of Netstars Co., Ltd.
E-mail: sales-dept@netstars.co.jp
TEL:+81-3-5540-6680