By Hikaru Sunaga / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

PayPay Corp., a major Japanese provider of smartphone payment services, announced Thursday that it has partnered with Visa Inc. for cashless payment services. Through the tie-up, PayPay aims to expand its payment services globally with support of the U.S. credit company.

The two companies will establish a joint venture, and as the first step in its global expansion, PayPay plans to enter the U.S. market, starting with California, the most populous state in the country.

PayPay plans to leverage Visa's U.S. merchant network to build a base of merchants accepting payment by QR code. It is also considering offering a new payment service for both contactless and QR code payments. Specific service details and the launch timing have yet to be finalized, the firm says.

Meanwhile, in Japan, PayPay aims to expand acceptance of Visa credit cards at its merchants amid anticipated demand from overseas visitors. Utilizing Visa's technology, PayPay also plans to offer a service that integrates its multiple payment services.

"The U.S. market has enormous potential, with personal consumption roughly nine times that of Japan," said PayPay President and CEO Ichiro Nakayama at a press conference on Thursday. "We want to make our service the service of choice there."

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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February 13, 2026 05:26 ET (10:26 GMT)

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