Now Available in Japan!Introducing Vietnam’s QR Code Payment Service

March 6, 2023

Now Available in Japan!Introducing Vietnam’s QR Code Payment Service
NETSTARS Launches Support for “MB Bank Payment”, with Over 10 Million App Users

NETSTARS Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Tsuyoshi Ri; hereinafter, “NETSTARS”) has announced that it will enable visitors from Vietnam to Japan to use the QR code payment service of MB Bank app, provided by Vietnam’s Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Headquarters: Hanoi, Vietnam; CEO: Luu Trung Thai; hereinafter, “MB Bank”), during their stay in Japan, through StarPay, NETSTARS’ multi-QR code payment gateway, starting on 6 March, 2023. This will be the first time*¹ that QR code payment by a Vietnamese provider is available for use within Japan.

About StarPay StarPay, a service that provides integrated application and management of various Japanese and international QR code payment services, is used by more than 15,000 companies within Japan. In addition to domestic QR code payment services, StarPay is enhancing support for overseas tourists to Japan, and with the latest addition of Vietnam, StarPay now supports services from 10 countries and territories. When visiting Japan, MB Bank app users will be able to make debit payments within Japan by using the MB Bank app at StarPay member stores that have applied for MB Bank payment compatibility.

About the Inbound Market from Vietnam
The number of inbound tourists to Japan, which had dramatically reduced during the pandemic, bounced back to around 950,000 in November 2022, a figure which included 33,600 Vietnamese tourists. This marked a recovery to 80.2% of the number in the same month of 2019, and further rises in consumption due to the summer vacation period and the weak yen can be anticipated.*2
Due to the efforts of respective Vietnamese banks to focus on smartphone services, debit-based QR code payments have become a widespread way of paying money in Vietnam. The MB Bank app provided by MB Bank has been used for 390 million payments by 2021, with a user base of 10 million, accounting for over 10% of Vietnam’s population.*3

NETSTARS has worked to provide support for payments by overseas tourists, starting with our introduction of WeChatPay for Chinese tourists in 2015, followed by other payment services from China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and more. In future, we will continue to further expand StarPay’s supported brands, and to improve the customer experiences of overseas tourists from as many countries and territories as possible by providing payment services that are a vital part of the infrastructure for inbound tourism.

*1: Source: MB Bank in-house survey
*2: Source: JNTO “Visitor Arrivals for Nov. 2022 (Preliminary figures by JNTO)”
*3: Source: Basic Data on Vietnam, Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
*QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE Incorporated.

■ About Military Bank
Established in 1994, Military Bank now has over 20 million customers. MB Bank app, the application operated by the bank, was the only digital banking app aimed at Vietnamese customers to be awarded the Sao Khue 2019 award as the outstanding technological product of that year. The bank continues to focus its energies on digital financial innovation, and was named both the “Best Mobile Banking App: Vietnam 2022” and “Best Digital Banking: Vietnam 2022” by International Business Magazine in 2022.

■ About NETSTARS Co., Ltd.
The company has conducted a gateway business since it was founded in 2009. It became the first agent in Japan of the WeChatPay QR code payment service in 2015. Since then, it has operated the StarPay service enabling QR code payment services to be deployed and managed in Japan and overseas at once. At present, the company is engaged in diversified services based on the technological strength of StarPay.