TOKYO, September 9, 2013 – Rakuten, Inc. announced today that starting September 9, 2013 it will begin rolling out the Rakuten Smartpay Service for credit card transactions on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices at Hankoyasan 21 stores owned and operated by Greight, Inc.
Hankoyasan 21 stores sell a variety of personal seals, bank seals, and other customized rubber stamp products as well as advertising leaflets, business cards, and printed New Year’s cards. The company’s customers have been asking for credit cards to be accepted for payment on delivery, in addition to cash. As a result, the company decided to use the Rakuten Smartpay Service because of its reasonable start-up cost and relative ease of launch. Initially, the Rakuten Smartpay Service will be offered at 47 Hankoyasan 21 stores.
Hankoyasan 21 has a network of some 300 stores nationwide in Japan that consists of directly owned outlets and franchise stores. Rakuten is committed to working with Greight in order to eventually roll out the Rakuten Smartpay Service at all of the company’s stores in Japan.
Going forward, Rakuten will strive to expand the Rakuten Smartpay Service in order to provide transaction solutions to self-employed and small- and medium-sized enterprises looking to implement a credit card transaction solution, regardless if they are part of the Rakuten Ecosystem or not.