Tokyo, December 14, 2011 – Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755) today announced that BIC CAMERA, Inc. (“BIC CAMERA,” President & CEO: Hiroyuki Miyajima, Head office: Toshima-ku, Tokyo) and bitWallet, Inc., manager of the electronic money service “Edy” and member of the Rakuten Group (“bitWallet,” CEO: Yoshihisa Yamada, Head Office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo) will begin processing payments made with Edy e-money at all 35 BIC CAMERA retail store locations nationwide in Japan by spring 2012.
Before rolling the service out to BIC CAMERA’s entire network of retail stores in Japan, it will first be offered from December 19, 2011 at the three BIC CAMERA retail stores where the most customers have asked for Edy payments to be accepted. These three stores are the Lazona Kawasaki Store, the Sapporo Store and the Nagoya Station West Exit Store. Through this initial roll out, BIC CAMERA and bitWallet hope to enhance the shopping experience for consumers in these locations. In addition, in conjunction with the initial launch of services, the Edy-BIC CAMERA point program will be launched on the same day for consumers using their O-saifu Keitai® (“wallet phone”). This program will enable BIC CAMERA customers to receive 1 BIC point for every 200 yen they spend using Edy to pay for goods or services with their wallet phone at any of the 281,000 (as of October 31, 2011) participating merchants in Japan.
Moreover, when the service is rolled out to all BIC CAMERA retail stores in Japan next spring, consumers will be able to charge their Edy account at the point of sale for the first time ever at an electronics retail store, which will serve to enhance the ease of shopping with Edy even more.
As part of its aspiration to operate as a group of continually evolving specialty stores that provide value to consumers in their everyday lives, BIC CAMERA has strived to further enhance its customer service experience through pricing, product selection, customer service, as well as its service line-up and store design. bitWallet has made wide-ranging efforts to expand the number of participating merchants, including supermarkets and convenience stores, in addition to electronics retail stores, to enable consumers to use Edy at more locations across Japan.
By rolling out this service, both companies seek to promote shopping at electronics retail stores as well as the use of Edy when making payments in order to further enhance customer satisfaction.
(Note) This service is exclusive to wallet phones that can use Edy to make payments earning the consumer loyalty reward points or air miles.
URL: https://www.edy.jp/profit/edypoint/index.html
December 14, 2011
- bitWallet, Inc.
BIC CAMERA to Begin Accepting Edy E-money Payments
in Spring 2012
—Services are set to begin first in three retail stores on December 19, 2011, in conjunction with the launching of the Edy-BIC CAMERA point program in which BIC CAMERA customers will receive BIC loyalty reward points whenever they use Edy to make purchases—
Overview of Service
■Service Details and Schedule:
[December 19, 2011]
- Initial service begins at three BIC CAMERA retail stores
(The Lazona Kawasaki Store, Sapporo Store and Nagoya Station West Exit Store)
- Launch of the Edy-BIC CAMERA point program in which BIC CAMERA customers can earn 1 BIC point for every 200 yen spent using Edy to pay for goods or services at any of the 281,000 participating merchants in Japan
[Spring 2012]
- BIC CAMERA will begin accepting payments made with Edy at all of its 35 retail stores in Japan
- Customers will be able to charge their Edy account at the point of sale in BIC CAMERA retail stores