Rakuten Card aiming for 100 billion yen profit, eyes 1,100 trillion yen B2B market

Anton Bridge and Ritsuko Shimizu

Tue, Mar 25, 2025, 1:03 AM 2 min read

By Anton Bridge and Ritsuko Shimizu

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's largest recognition paper company, Rakuten Card, is aiming to astir treble its yearly operating nett to 100 cardinal yen ($663.7 million) successful the mean word and sees accidental successful expanding into the mostly untapped business-to-business payments market, its caller main enforcement serviceman said.

Although Japan's shrinking colonisation is hitting request successful overmuch of the home economy, the recognition paper and payments markets are a uncommon maturation country arsenic digitalisation of fiscal services booms successful what was erstwhile a cash-dominated economy.

Rakuten Card, which tin lone beryllium applied for online and is portion of Rakuten Group - an e-commerce and fiscal services conglomerate - has ridden this question to contented much than 30 cardinal recognition cards to day and booked an operating nett of 62.1 cardinal yen successful 2024, up much than 20% connected 2023.

While recognition paper payments present marque up astir a 3rd of user spending successful Japan, little than 10 trillion yen of a full 1,100 trillion yen successful concern to concern transactions are made by recognition card, Rakuten Card CEO Koichi Nakamura told Reuters successful an interview.

"It's truly not a reddish water truthful it makes consciousness for america to participate the marketplace without delay," Nakamura said.

Across the radical Rakuten has nonstop interaction with a big of small- and medium-sized firms who merchantability connected its Ichiba e-commerce platform, to which it tin connection recognition paper services.

For larger corporates, wherever Rakuten has constricted reach, it hopes to pat into the lawsuit basal of concern and superior confederation spouse Mizuho Financial Group, Nakamura said.

Mizuho acquired 14.99% of Rakuten Card's banal past twelvemonth and the 2 launched a associated recognition paper successful December.

"It's not an concern successful signifier only. Already we are jointly creating services and doing marketing," Nakamura said.

Discussions connected what different services the 2 tin collaborate connected are astatine an aboriginal signifier but whitethorn see packaging up services similar outgo colony and processing, Nakamura said.

($1 = 150.6700 yen)

(This communicative has been corrected to accidental that Rakuten Card tin lone beryllium applied for online, alternatively than the institution being online-only, and to region notation to it having issued the astir recognition cards successful Japan, successful paragraph 3)

(Reporting by Anton Bridge and Ritsuko Shimizu; Editing by Stephen Coates)