How one company is cracking Japan’s difficult fintech market

Photo credit: Micah H.

Last week, online cross-border payments company Payoneer announced its expansion into Japan via subsidiary Payoneer Japan.

While the business was already processing payments between Japan and other countries, there is plenty of room to get more Japanese businesses on board with fintech.

Former Groupon Japan CEO Setoru Nemoto has taken up the Japan company manager position for the company.

Payoneer’s services help lessen fees and speed up transfer times for currency across countries. The majority of the company’s users in the country are ecommerce site operators, but Payoneer plans on reaching out to those creating products in demand but not yet launched in overseas markets. It also plans to strengthen its operations within Japan, and offer Japanese businesses more access to its partnerships with ecommerce sites like Amazon, Rakuten, and Lazada.

That could help grow the company’s presence throughout Asia. The majority of the payments processed by the company – 80 percent – are in the US and Europe. Payoneer CEO Scott Galit predicts the number will change but also points out that Japan will require some evangelizing to get more merchants on Payoneer’s side.

“It’s something that we have done in other places. It may take us a little longer here given the cultural considerations, but the opportunity is so big globally,” he says. That means educating merchants on opportunities that are present.

New York-headquartered Payoneer aims to help business owners, particularly small business owners, transact across borders. It can process multiple currencies for a business and helps when withdrawing money from a local bank account. It processes 150 currencies across 200 countries. Users get a Payoneer account from which they can withdraw local currency. They may also withdraw via a prepaid Mastercard.

Payoneer opened its office in the Philippines last year in September.

See: Japan’s fintech market is booming but people are still too happy with their banks

Catalyst for business

“We have nothing to do with how any consumer in Japan is going to pay for anything, nothing to do with how any business is going to sell to a Japanese customer,” Scott explains.

It’s best to think of Payoneer’s services as a catalyst for businesses rather than a means to an end – it lowers the effort and resources required for local merchants to transact across borders. For example, through the service, a merchant in the US would gain a Japanese bank account and gain the ability to be paid locally. Japanese customers would then be able to pay into that account, and the merchant could withdraw that money later. Instead of one international payment, the payment is split into two local payments. Payoneer monitors both sides.

A catalyst is also how Scott sees Payoneer’s role in the digital economy – the world is moving that way. Payoneer’s just helping it along, smoothing along the process. That means dealing with the bumps in the road beforehand for customers.

“To get our customers to operate in a frictionless way, we come up against a lot of friction,” quips Scott. Payoneer’s been around since 2005, which helps, but transacting between 200 countries means complying by 200 countries’ regulatory rules. It also means tackling increased cybersecurity concerns.