Japan’s Credit Saison invests in Singapore-based ewallet MatchMove Pay

Singapore-based mobile payments provider MatchMove Pay today announced a “significant” investment round led by Japanese credit card and financial services company Credit Saison and joined by GMO Venture Partners. The funding amount was not disclosed.

Japanese investors have exhibited a piqued interest in Southeast Asian tech companies, likely due in large part to their country’s rapidly shrinking and aging society coupled with a flat domestic economy with an ever-weakening yen. Southeast Asia represents fresh growth potential, with younger populations that are avid smartphone users despite many being unbanked and uncarded.

“We believe that Southeast Asia will evolve into a cashless society as the growth of credit cards, prepaid cards, and smartphone payments continue to gain momentum,” Hiroshi Rinno, Credit Saison’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “MatchMove Pay has addressed each of these three critical factors […] and is therefore uniquely positioned to quickly unlock the potential for ecommerce growth in Asia.”

Credit Saison’s support for MatchMove Pay comes just three days after the firm invested “hundreds of millions of yen” (millions of US dollars) in San Francisco-based Coin, the struggling startup that wants to combine all of your credit, debit, loyalty, gift, and membership cards into one similarly-sized electronic device.

See: Why are so many Japanese investors coming to Southeast Asia?