March 25, 2024
NETSTARS Adopted as QR Code Payment Gateway for
Sumitomo Mitsui Card Payment Terminals “stera terminal unit” & “stera terminal mobile”
Promoting Cooperative Acquiring
NETSTARS Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Tsuyoshi Ri; hereinafter, “NETSTARS”) has been adopted as a code payment gateway by Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Koto-ku, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Yukihiko Onishi; hereinafter, “Sumitomo Mitsui Card”) for the payment terminals “stera terminal unit” and “stera terminal mobile” used by “stera”, the payment platform provided by Sumitomo Mitsui Card.
The “stera terminal unit” and “stera terminal mobile” all-in-one terminals provided by Sumitomo Mitsui Card are multipurpose terminals that allow acceptance of credit cards, electronic money, QR code and barcode reading, electronic signatures, and PIN entry. On this occasion, NETSTARS has accepted Sumitomo Mitsui Card’s adoption of our code payment gateway. NETSTARS will handle processing tasks in relation to code payments (payment management tasks using our payment system, such as contract management and settlement related to member stores), and Sumitomo Mitsui Card will handle code payment acquiring services. Through this system, we aim to expand the number of code payment member stores. In addition, NETSTARS will continue to promote cooperative acquiring going forward, as well as examining the potential for development and provision of various acquiring services together with Sumitomo Mitsui Card.
Background of Implementation
In light of the Japanese government’s stated aim for cashless payments to account for 40% of all transactions by 2025 *1, code payments, a relative latecomer among payment methods, have become an indispensable method for in-store payment, reaching a total of 7.9 trillion yen made in payments in 2022 *1. StarPay, the multi-cashless payment solution developed by NETSTARS, is an extremely stable payment system, and is one of very few platforms in Japan with a cloud-native foundation. By supporting code payments made via “stera terminal unit” and “stera terminal mobile” with NETSTARS’ stable system foundation, we will be able to tackle further widespread popularization of code payments.
*1 Announcement on the website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, April 6, 2023
In future, NETSTARS will continue to handle processing tasks for code payments made via “stera terminal unit” and “stera terminal mobile” while Sumitomo Mitsui Card handles acquiring services, and we will cooperatively promote the expansion of code payment member stores through the introduction of this system. Furthermore, by utilizing both companies’ products and resources, we will provide new high added-value services to business operators.
About Payment Platform “stera”:
“stera” is a payment platform aimed at business operators (member stores), constructed by Sumitomo Mitsui Card in collaboration with GMO Payment Gateway Inc. and Visa Worldwide Japan, Co., Ltd. “stera” covers all functions required for cashless payment from start to finish, including “center functions”, which handle payment data processing, and “network functions”, which deliver payment data to settlement operators.
stera Website: https://www.smbc-card.com/kamei/stera/index.jsp
Comment from NETSTARS’ Representative Director and President, Tsuyoshi Ri:
“NETSTARS was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange last year, giving us an even greater sense of duty to fulfill our social responsibilities, including from the market itself. Our involvement with Japan’s leading next-generation payment terminals, through the important role of code payment processing, precisely meets our objectives of popularizing cashless payment and promoting digital transformation (DX) of stores. By proceeding with this project, we aim to tackle the creation of new services and value through payment methods.”
■ About NETSTARS, Co., Ltd.
NETSTARS Co., Ltd. has been developing our gateway business since our establishment in 2009. We were the first agent to introduce the QR code payment service “WeChatPay” to Japan in 2015. Since then, we have developed StarPay, a multi-cashless payment solution that enables stores to introduce and manage various cashless payments simultaneously, focusing on domestic and international QR code payment services. Currently, building on StarPay’s technological capabilities, we are working on the development of multifaceted services including support for store digital transformation (DX). In September 2023, NETSTARS Co., Ltd. was newly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market.
Headquarters: 3F & 4F Sumitomo Fudosan Hatchobori Building, 3-3-5 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Established: February 2009
Representative: Representative Director and President: Tsuyoshi Ri
Website: https://www.netstars.co.jp/
*QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE Incorporated.