Payment Processing in Japan

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Scott Murphy on January 29, 2010 at 2:11pm

Hey Truman,

I hope all is well in Japan. I don't have much of an answer for you as most sites that I've set up towards Japan have used US based merchants that allow international transactions.

You might also want to look at 銀行振り込み - direct wiring to bank accounts as that is popular in Japan. I see it as an option on most major e-commerce sites. I'm not sure exactly sure how the recurred billing would be set up though.

You might want to check Rakuten and see the options they have. I think they offer a payment gateway too.

Scott

Permalink Reply by Truman Leung on January 29, 2010 at 2:37pm

Hey Scott,

It's great to be able to have all the ramen and mochi I want nearby. But it's cold!! How's it going for you?

I'll check out 銀行振り込み and Rakuten.

Aloha,
Truman

Permalink Reply by Ben Ward on January 29, 2010 at 5:45pm

I am trying to pick a payment processor there as well.

Full disclosure: I worked as a programmer/sysadmin remotely for GMO up until last month. Moved to Maui from Tokyo 5 years ago. I worked in a different division, so I am not too familiar with this.

I would work with GMO Payment Gateway. It is my understanding that their Epsilon service is an older one. If you would like I can have someone contact you.

http://www.gmo-pg.com/
Regrettably, I don't know other processors enough to have an opinion.

You should always try to accept furikomi. Even in this digi-money age
you will have people who want to furikomi.

In order of implementation . . .
Credit cards -> Furikomi -> konbini -> suika and other forms of digimoney
Not too sure where paypal fits in there. The acceptance rate there is low.

Truman, do you know Jeff Char?
PM me.

BTW, auto-pay is called jidou-hikiotoshi (自動引き落とし).
This can be done, but it is a pain in my experience.
We have to send out postcards to be stamped and returned by the customer to start the process.
Seems like you need a different company for each payment solution :(

Permalink Reply by Truman Leung on January 29, 2010 at 6:07pm

Thanks, Ben! So from what I gather...

銀行振り込み (ginkou furikomi) = bank transfer/deposit (either cash at ATM or transfer)
konbini = convenience store payment

What is suika?

Does jidou-hikiotoshi (自動引き落とし) == automatic recurring billing? Sending out postcards does sound like more work that I want to do.

BTW, if you want to vote up GMO as a payment processor feature request for Chargify, please go to their uservoice site. The more votes, the quicker they will add it as a gateway to their recurring billing system.

Permalink Reply by Jeffrey Char ジェフリー・チャー on January 29, 2010 at 6:27pm

You might want to check out http://www.paypal.jp/ as well.

Permalink Reply by Mika Leuck on January 29, 2010 at 7:14pm

Hi Truman,

I love this discussion!

> What is suika?

I guess you meant "Suica". I used to use this everyday to go to the office.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suica

> Does jidou-hikiotoshi (自動引き落とし) == automatic recurring billing?

Yes.

Say "元気〜?" to Elisabeth and Noah!

Mika

Permalink Reply by Daniel Leuck on January 29, 2010 at 7:15pm

> Suica

What iPhone in Japan is missing :-)

Permalink Reply by Truman Leung on January 29, 2010 at 7:49pm

Hi Mika and Dan, thanks for your help! Suica is fascinating. I just did a bit of reading on FeliCA which powers suica. Using your phone as a pre-paid or credit card ... cool.

One weird thing between the U.S. & Japan is that the while the U.S. has plenty of Internet startups, my guess is that Japan has few. However, while U.S. has slooooow broadband speeds, Japan has insanely fast fiber optic connections that are affordable for consumers. 67 Mbps download and 52 Mbps upload is just nuts.

Permalink Reply by Daniel Leuck on January 30, 2010 at 12:28am

True. Japan doesn't have as many flashy Web 8.0 startups. They just quietly do really, really cool stuff ;-)

Truman Leung said:

Hi Mika and Dan, thanks for your help! Suica is fascinating. I just did a bit of reading on FeliCA which powers suica. Using your phone as a pre-paid or credit card ... cool.

One weird thing between the U.S. & Japan is that the while the U.S. has plenty of Internet startups, my guess is that Japan has few. However, while U.S. has slooooow broadband speeds, Japan has insanely fast fiber optic connections that are affordable for consumers. 67 Mbps download and 52 Mbps upload is just nuts.