Alibaba, Tencent, and Line are developing a QR standard in Japan (LN, BABA, TCIHY)

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Alibaba, an affiliate of Ant Financial, Tencent, parent company of WeChat Pay, and Japanese messaging app Line are among a group of five Japanese and Chinese tech companies developing a unified QR code payment system in Japan, according to Nikkei.

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Here’s what it means: The solution will unify the QR code standard across mobile payment services in Japan, eliminating fragmentation for merchants.

As mobile payments proliferate in Japan, the process of accepting these solutions is getting more complicated for merchants. There are more than a dozen mobile payment service in Japan — and each requires its own QR code standard, meaning merchants that wish support more than one mobile payment would need to install separate readers or payment apps for each.

The bigger picture: Offering a unified solution allows all digital payment providers to capitalize on the emerging volume opportunity in Japanese digital payments.

Japan is seeing a government-fueled shift away from cash with the goal of doubling cashless payment rates by 2025. It’s a promising time for digital payments in Japan: The Prime Minister wants 40% of the country’s payments to be cashless by 2025. And while Japan is still cash-heavy, ongoing regulatory shifts require customers and banks to open up access to banking data could accelerate the country’s push toward electronic payments.
And developing a standard for these payment services will propel each firm’s initiatives and allow more merchants to offer their payment methods. Line has been investing heavily in Line Pay, its mobile payment service: It invested $182 millionto reinvigorate the company’s overall growth following revenue declines. And it plansto expand its cashless payments and fintech initiatives. Meanwhile, Tencent partnered with Line to accelerate WeChat Pay’s growth in Japan. And Chinese mobile wallet Alipay, an affiliate of Ant Financial, launched a cross-border service that allows travelers from Hong Kong to use the mobile wallet in Japan.

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