Worldline [Euronext: WLN], which claims to be an international leader in payment services, and Casio Computer recently revealed that they have agreed to a business alliance to support card payments and cashless shopping in Japan, a market with significant potential to transform its conservative retail landscape.
The business collaboration between Worldline and Casio, which went live in Japan, is focused on streamlining the payment acceptance ecosystem.
The setup reportedly includes Vesca, a domestic provider of payment solutions and network service provider (NSP), and is intended for mass market, primarily SME merchants across the Asian country.
Via this partnership, Worldline offers transaction processing and leverages the presence, scale and tech of its payment processing facilities, meanwhile, Casio is the trusted front-end for merchants, having led the cash register market in Japan for almost 20 years, with cashless services part of its offering; and Vesca is the technical enabler that serves as the acceptance layer in Japan.
This arrangement is meant to benefit merchants in Japan, mainly SMEs and small chains, and their clients.
Credit card acceptance will no longer be an issue for these retail and service businesses which should benefit from fast onboarding and competitive costs, while keeping Casio as their trusted single point of contact for check-outs.
As mentioned in the update, Worldline, Casio and Vesca should be able to effectively address the obstacles posed by the Japanese ecosystem when it comes to handling card payments – cash dominated consumer behaviors and lengthy onboarding processes.
As a team, the three firms are well-placed to address the needs of the Japanese market and its distinctive characteristics. For instance, a robust relationship usually binds together local merchants and their electronic cash register (ECR) provider or integrator, which in Japan, gatekeeps the checkout and payments process.
Vincent Roland, Head of Merchant Services at Worldline, stated:
“We are extremely proud to be working with a prestigious brand such as Casio and we are confident this partnership is the right choice for our presence in the Japanese market. Our offering will booster card payments in a market with huge potential.”
Shigenori Fujii, Senior General Manager, System Business Unit at Casio, remarked:
“Worldline is the leading payments solutions provider in Europe, and it only made sense to collaborate with them as we aim to enlarge our offering for checkout payments and cashless services in Japan. Their professionalism and expertise are unparalleled. We want to develop this partnership further.”
Building key relationships with domestic actors and delivering offerings using the latest payment tech are the main components of Worldline’s business growth strategy when it comes to tapping into new markets.
In this case, the collaboration brings together Worldline and Casio, both highly respected operators in their respective fields, with shared values and objectives.