Rakuten, Inc. （“Rakuten,” Chairman and CEO: Hiroshi Mikitani, Head Office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo) today began offering “Rakuten Anshin (online secure) Payment Service” as a way to settle test fees for taking the TOEIC Secure Program (SP) Test operated and administered by the Institute for International Business Communication.
TOEIC® is the world’s largest-scale English testing system. Currently, each year about six million people in 120 countries take the TOEIC Program (2010 overall results), and 1.78 million people in Japan take the TOEIC Test each year (2010 results). Until now, payments for the TOEIC SP Test have been made on-line by credit card, at certain convenience stores, and at bookstores and university co-ops. With the introduction of Rakuten Anshin Payment Service, test takers can also pay by using their existing Rakuten Member IDs.
Furthermore, from now on Rakuten will make payment notification on Rakuten Group’s website timed to the application period for taking the TOEIC SP Test, thereby contributing to the popularization of English language education in Japan. Moving forward, by expanding the number of sites that use Rakuten Anshin Payment Service, Rakuten will work toward the expansion of the “Rakuten Quasi-Eco-System(*).
(*)About “Rakuten Quasi-Eco-System”
While “Rakuten Eco-System” indicates a series of core services, such as “Rakuten Ichiba and “Rakuten Travel,” centralized around Rakuten’s membership database, “Rakuten Quasi-Eco-System” includes peripheral services, such as third-party websites that employ or introduce Rakuten services on their websites that can be accessed with Rakuten member ID’s.
■ Overview of TOEIC® Program
【Official site URL】 http://www.toeic.or.jp/
TOEIC, which stands for Test of English for International Communication, is a common global test that widely assesses English communication skills. The TOEIC Program is being utilized by many companies, schools, and other organizations around the world for a wide range of uses and purposes. In 2010, about six million people in 120 countries took the TOEIC Program, and 1.78 million people in Japan are taking the TOEIC Test each year (TOEIC Test 2010 overall results).
■ Overview of Rakuten Anshin Payment Service
【URL】 https://checkout.rakuten.co.jp/
This service enables Rakuten Members to use their Rakuten Member IDs to make secure (“Anshin”), simple, and convenient payments to sites other than Rakuten Group sites. A Rakuten Super Point equal to 1% of the payment amount is added to a user’s account, or the user may also utilize points to make purchases.
TOEIC is a registered trademark of Educational Testing Service (ETS).