Japan continues to see more visitor arrivals, with the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) reporting 3.266 million arrivals in September 2025, marking the first time to reach over 3 million in the same month and a 13.7% year-on-year growth rate. Due to Japan's continued popularity as a destination, the number of visitors to Japan increased—with visitors from East Asia (Mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong) making up 65% of arrivals.
With the growing number of visitors from Asia and other regions, there is an increased need to offer convenient payment options for them and support merchants in Japan. PayPay Corporation, a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434), has been at the forefront of this trend with its “PayPay” cashless payment service.
Cashless payment services from Hong Kong and Taiwan added
With the addition of Octopus from Hong Kong and Taishin Pay+ from Taiwan—which connect through HIVEX®—announced in September 2025, users of a total of 28 cashless payment services used in 14 countries and regions can now transact at PayPay merchants when they visit Japan, whether paying for food & drinks, souvenirs, accommodation, or other items and services.
PayPay has a wide reach across Japan–spanning nationwide chain stores to privately owned stores that do not accept credit cards. Participating services utilize Alipay+ or connect to the HIVEX® network, a high-performance, secure, multinational distributed ledger technology network provided by TBCASoft, a company that SoftBank has invested in.
There are two types of payment methods available: the user-scan method (merchant-presented mode, or MPM) and the store-scan method (customer-presented mode, or CPM). Supported methods differ by service as follows.
Cashless payment services integrated with "PayPay"
| Service name (Alphabetical order) |
Location | Provider | Payment Method | Launch date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alipay | Mainland China | Alipay.com Co., Ltd. | User-scan | Oct 2018 |
| AlipayHK | Hong Kong | Alipay Payment Services (HK) Limited | User-scan | Apr 2020 |
| BigPay | Thailand Malaysia Singapore |
BIG PAY THAILAND LIMITED BIGPAY MALAYSIA SDN BHD BIGPAY SINGAPORE PTE LTD |
User-scan | Apr 2025 |
| Bluecode | Germany Australia |
BLUE CODE INTERNATIONAL AG | User-scan | Apr 2025 |
| Changi Pay | Singapore | Liquid Group Pte. Ltd. | User-scan | Jan 2024 |
| E.SUN Wallet | Taiwan | E.SUN COMMERCIAL BANK, LTD. | User-scan Store-scan |
Nov 2023 |
| GCash | Philippines | G-Xchange, Inc | User-scan | Jun 2023 |
| HelloMoney by AUB | Philippines | Asia United Bank Corporation (AUB) | User-scan | Jun 2023 |
| Hipay | Mongolia | High Payment Solutions LLC | User-scan | Jan 2024 |
| icash Pay | Taiwan | icash Corporation | User-scan Store-scan |
Integration scheduled |
| iPASS MONEY | Taiwan | iPASS Corporation | User-scan Store-scan |
Oct 2024 |
| JKO PAY | Taiwan | Jkopay Co., Ltd. | User-scan Store-scan |
Oct 2023 |
| K PLUS | Thailand | KASIKORNBANK Public Company Limited | User-scan | Apr 2025 |
| Kakao Pay | South Korea | Kakao Corp. | User-scan | Apr 2020 |
| Kaspi.kz | Kazakhstan | KASPI BANK JOINT STOCK COMPANY | User-scan | Apr 2025 |
| Mpay | Macau | Macau Pass S.A. | User-scan | Jan 2024 |
| MyPB | Malaysia | Public Bank Berhad | User-scan | Jan 2024 |
| NAVER Pay | South Korea | Naver Financial Corporation | User-scan | Jan 2024 |
| OCBC Digital | Singapore | Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited | User-scan | Jan 2024 |
| Octopus | Hong Kong | Octopus Cards Limited | User-scan Store-scan |
Sep 2025 |
| Plus Pay | Taiwan | All Win Fintech Company Limited | User-scan Store-scan |
Integration scheduled |
| PXPay Plus | Taiwan | PXPay Plus Co., Ltd. | User-scan Store-scan |
Feb 2024 |
| Tinaba | Italy | Tinaba S.p.A Banca Profilo S.p.A |
User-scan | Jan 2024 |
| Toss | South Korea | Viva Republica Inc. | User-scan | Jan 2024 |
| Touch ‘n Go eWallet | Malaysia | TNG Digital Sdn Bhd | User-scan | Jun 2023 |
| TrueMoney | Thailand | TRUE MONEY COMPANY LIMITED | User-scan | Jun 2023 |
| Taishin Pay + | Taiwan | Taishin International Bank Co.,Ltd. | User-scan Store-scan |
Integration scheduled |
| WeChat Pay | Mainland China | Tenpay Payment Technology Company Limited | User-scan | Sep 2025 |
Since launching its “PayPay” service in October 2018, PayPay has been working to create an environment that supports merchants seeking to capture tourist-driven demand while enhancing traveler convenience. PayPay’s QR code with an overseas cashless payment service allows the user to check the payment amount in their local currency for easy shopping, converted after inputting the yen equivalent, and helps merchants communicate with visitors who speak different languages.
Due to a recovery in tourism and an increase in the number of partner companies, the gross merchandise value (GMV) for overseas cashless payment services at PayPay merchants reached a record high in FY2024 (the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025), increasing approximately threefold compared to FY2019.
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(Posted on January 10, 2024, updated on October 29, 2025)
by SoftBank News Editors
