Digital Garage and JCB Provide a New NFC Tag Payment Service for “Shibuya City Digital Local Currency Project”

– Digital Garage and JCB develop a new contactless NFC tag payment service and provide it to the “Shibuya City Digital Local Currency Project” scheduled to start during 2022.

– Pocket Change, a Fintech company which develops e-money and loyalty point businesses, will also participate in this initiative to develop a payment service for “Shibuya City Digital Local Currency Project.”

– The business scheme that configures future regional payment will be provided all over Japan.

Based on the capital and business alliance^*1 in February 2022, Digital Garage, Inc. (TSE Prime section: 4819; HQ: Tokyo; Representative Director, President Executive Officer and Group CEO: Kaoru Hayashi; DG) and JCB Co., Ltd. (HQ: Tokyo; Chairman and CEO: Ichiro Hamakawa; JCB) are collaborating on payment infrastructure and mutually developing cashless merchants to further expand the payment businesses. In addition, DG and JCB are co-creating new services such as next-generation payment and Fintech marketing for participating merchants and cardholders, the development of new businesses and services, and marketing and R&D, utilizing the development systems and customer bases of both companies. DG Group is developing payment solutions that can be used from E-Commerce to retail stores, including “VeriTrans4G,” a comprehensive payment solution, and “Cloud Pay,” a unified QR Code payment solution, which can introduce various payment services with reduced burden and costs.

■About the new NFC tag payment service
The new service is a contactless payment service that allows users to complete payments using their own smartphones. Participating merchants can activate a web browser and complete the payment online when the users hold up their smartphones to the NFC tag. Since payment is made using the credit card registered on the user’s smartphone, there is no need for cash transformation and installment of a dedicated payment platform. The payment method can be set according to the operation of the store, including a “menu selection type” that allows table orders, an “amount input type” in which the customer enters the purchase amount, and “fixed amount type” in which the customer pays a fixed amount. In addition, the use of NFC tags, which are anti-counterfeiting and tamper-proof, ensures safe and secure payment transactions.

Prior to the provision of this service, DG and JCB conducted a proof of concept (PoC)^*2 from September 2021. The commercialization of this service has been studied through the verification of customer experience, store operations, and technological improvements.

■About “Shibuya City Digital Local Currency Project”
Shibuya decided to implement its own digital local currency project to promote sustainable industrial development unique to Shibuya by involving diverse stakeholders such as residents, visitors, businesses, and the government.

In this project, DG Group will provide the payment infrastructure and digital marketing support, while JCB will promote the Shibuya City Digital Local Currency Project. DG Financial Technology, Inc. (HQ: Tokyo; Representative Director, President, Co-COO: Hiroshi Shino; DGFT), a subsidiary of DG, will provide top-up and cashless payment functionality within the payment application. Pocket Change Inc. (HQ: Osaka; CEO: Shin Aoyama) will also participate in this project and will be responsible for the development of payment services utilizing the SDK of the original e-money issuing platform “pokepay”.

■Future development
DG and JCB will consider expanding the functionality of this service to provide a convenient customer experience, linkage with membership information and external services, and support services for member stores such as digital marketing to help stores improve their operational efficiency and attract customers and sales through this service. Plans call for developing solutions for entertainment facilities that welcome visitors, such as stadiums, theaters, and movie theaters, where the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed how people enjoy entertainment. In addition, to achieve regional DX and cashless environments, these approaches will be packaged to solve social issues such as nationwide DX support and regional development.

DG has established “DG FinTech Shift,” a group strategy that integrates payment and data, to drive DX in Japan amidst significant changes in society and industrial structure. DG will continue to invest in leading Fintech startups in Japan and overseas to create new businesses that will become the core of the group’s next-generation Fintech business. DG will continue to contribute to building a sustainable society and supporting local governments in their DX efforts based on its corporate mission of “designing “new contexts” for a sustainable society with technology.”

*1: Related press release: “Digital Garage and JCB Form Capital and Business Alliance” (February 10, 2022)
*2: Related press release: “Digital Garage and JCB Start Proof of Concept on a New NFC Tag Payment Service” (August 27, 2021)