Japan strives to promote cashless payments before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

The Japanese government is worried that Japan’s “” cash doctrine” “will affect the convenience of shopping when Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games in 2020, thus missing out on shopping opportunities for tourists who are accustomed to using” “cashless payment” “.

So the Japanese government is fully committed to promoting cashless payments before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, considering offering subsidies and tax credits to encourage traders to accept cashless payment options such as electronic payments.

Japan is a big electronic technology country, but it is lagging behind South Korea, China and the United States in the field of cashless payment, which makes many foreign tourists feel very inconvenient.



Nikkei news reports that the Japanese government plans to draft plans by the end of the year, standardize the use of QR code payment methods, to provide compliance with the requirements of the settlement infrastructure industry, will be eligible to apply for subsidies, the Ministry will be in accordance with the 2019 draft budget to raise the required funds.

The government has also considered offering limited-time tax concessions to SMEs that have introduced cashless payment systems to reduce their cost pressures. According to the survey by the Ministry of Economic and Trade, 42% of the companies that did not accept credit card payments mentioned that the fees were too high.

The scale of the tax credit will be equivalent to the total amount of cashless payments, and the government hopes to include a tax change approved later this year, before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, expecting more traders and restaurants to accept cashless payments.



The government is also considering issuing credit and debit card readers to small companies such as small retail stores, and giving customers who use cashless credit points for future shopping use.

Of those visiting Japan, 40 percent are dissatisfied with the country’s lack of cashless payment options. Data from the Ministry of Economy and Industry show that in all consumer payments, the use of cashless payments as of 2015 accounted for only 18%, well below South Korea’s 89% and China’s 60%. The Japanese government hopes that by 2025 the ratio will reach 40%.

According to data from the Boston Consulting Group, the Japanese financial industry spends about 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) a year on cash machine and cash transportation. If there is no cash payment, this will greatly reduce the burden on the financial industry, and the public can Save time when using the cash machine.

However, cashless payment is not entirely without its shortcomings. As the popularity of cashless payment has increased the number of bankruptcy filing in South Korea, which has become a social problem, the Japanese government will explore countermeasures in the future.