December 14, 2023

Tokyo, December 14th, 2023 - JCB Co., Ltd, Japan's leading international payment brand, has agreed to enable Korean code payment service(*1)provided by GLN at Smart Code merchants in Japan by the end of FY2023. This will enable users of Korean code payment services such as GLN, KEB Hana Bank and KB Kookmin Bank to shop at Smart Code merchants in Japan. This is the second case of an international code payment service provider adopting Smart Code, following KASIKORNBANK in Thailand.

South Korea has the largest number of travelers to Japan, with 5,525,900(*2)South Korean visitors travelling to Japan between January and October 2023. There is a growing demand in Japan for access to code payment services available in Asia in order to capture inbound tourism spending, but as the specifications for code payment services vary among payment service providers, there has been a system and operational burden for merchants to adopt code payments.

In response to those, JCB is collaborating with GLN to enable the acceptance of international code payments at Smart Code merchants in Japan by making GLN's payment network Smart Code compliant. Merchants adopting Smart Code will be able to accept international code payments without the need for additional contracts or system and operational support.

1. *1

   Payment service providers using GLN's global payment network (including those planned). To be expanded in due course.

1. *2

   Number of Foreign Visitors (October 2023 estimate). Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)

ENDS

About Smart Code

Smart Code is a payment scheme designed to reduce the workload and costs of code payment service providers and merchants, and to provide consumers with secure and reliable payments. JCB provides the data center for processing payment information, linking the payment providers and merchants and centralizing the contracts between them.

For more information on Smart Code, click here.