Rakuten smartphone app payment service to be made available at Ministop stores nationwide

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Rakuten Inc says its smartphone app payment service Rakuten Pay will be made available at all Ministop convenience stores in Japan (2,225 stores) from Monday Dec 17.

The Rakuten Pay smartphone app allows Rakuten members to easily link the credit cards registered on their Rakuten account to make payments via the app. The service offers three payment methods: the QR scan method in which the user scans a QR code using their smartphone; the Code display method in which a shop assistant scans a barcode or QR code displayed on users’ smartphone; and the Self method in which the user selects the shop to which they wish to make a payment to and enters the amount to pay.

The payment method to be offered at Ministop convenience stores is the Code display payment method. At the register, users will be able to complete their payment simply by presenting the barcode displayed on the Rakuten Pay smartphone app to be scanned by a Mimnistop shop assistant. Through the app, users can also earn and use Rakuten Super Points, the loyalty points program operated by the Rakuten Group, which has been rated number one for overall user satisfaction among point programs in Japan. Additionally, if users register their Rakuten Card as their default credit card for payments, they can also earn points when using the Rakuten Pay app (1 point for every 200 yen spent) and Rakuten Card (1 point for every 100 yen spent).

Ministop has been working in cooperation with Rakuten since August 2008, when the convenience store chain adopted Rakuten Edy e-money. In November 2015, the retail chain also introduced a pick-up point service that allows customers of the Rakuten Ichiba internet shopping mall to pick up their orders from Ministop stores.