ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has entered a card-less transaction business through a capital partnership with Exchange Corporation K.K. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Russell Cummer, President and Representative Director; hereinafter “ExCo”). ExCo runs Paidy, a service that allows users to conduct online settlements instantly by simply entering their mail address and mobile phone number. In addition, Paidy does not require users to pre-register credit cards or other identification data.

The domestic market for electronic commercial transactions (hereinafter “ECs”) is growing steadily, and is expected to reach 25.6 trillion*1 yen in 2021. Non-credit card payments account for 40% of all ECs, and thus many predict that the use of a card-less settlement services will further expand to users who do not own credit cards or who do not wish to use them out of security concerns. One notable trend is the increase in the amount of transactions performed on mobile devices. Paidy, which allows users to conduct settlements by simply entering their mail addresses and mobile phone numbers, can be used in a variety of situations, such as when they are away from the office or on the train.

ITOCHU is aiming reach a total of 100 billion yen in Paidy-based settlements by 2018 through efforts such as sales to group companies and providing support for the development of services overseas. ITOCHU considers Fintech business to be one of its areas of focus, and it intends to move forward with active investments in start-ups in Japan and other countries. ITOCHU hopes to spread technologies and services originating in Japan all throughout the world. To achieve this goal, it will draw upon its global network and work to establish a financial system for future generations in Japan by investing in companies such as ExCo that create leading-edge financial services.