OSAKA, Japan, Sept. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Beijing Inspiry Technology Co., Ltd. announced recently that the company has started to deploy its offline mobile payment solution Inspiry Smart Box in Osaka, Japan. The Japan debut of the self-service QR code payment solution, a solution that has already proven itself popular in China, came on the heels of its launch in the US.
The Inspiry Smart Boxes were initially deployed at major retail locations in downtown Tokyo and Osaka, including at the flagship Ebisu shop and restaurant in Osaka, a locale that primarily serves as a meeting place for Chinese people residing in Japan and Chinese visitors from abroad, in addition to catering to a local Japanese clientele.
As the upgraded version of Inspiry Smart Box, the Smart Box Extended being introduced in Japan, which allows consumers to pay with their smartphones by scanning a QR code via the Alipay app, can easily be set up in any environment which has access to the internet and a power cable. The QR-code scanner and interactive payment keypad can quickly be made operational following a one-minute configuration process.
The smartphone-based mobile payment sector is still in its infancy in Japan. According to data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, cashless payment made up 18 percent of all consumer payments in Japan as of 2015, compared to 89 percent in South Korea and 60 percent in China. The Japanese government aims to drive the figure up to 40 percent by 2025.
As China's mobile payment sector continues to grow rapidly, multinational payment brands, including Alipay and Inspiry, among other infrastructure service providers, have taken the first step towards their expansion into the Japanese market. Earlier this year, Alipay launched its smartphone-based QR-code payment service in Japan with the aim of boosting the adoption and upgrade of mobile payment services in the country.
QR codes, which are widely used in China, were first invented by Japan-based DENSO Corporation. Inspiry founder Wang Yue said, "Japan should seize the opportunities emerging in the global 2D barcode payment market and accelerate the transformation of the entire 2D barcode payment industry chain with the aim of becoming one of the drivers behind the growth of the 2D barcode payment services worldwide."
Inspiry is a provider of mobile payment devices and system services. Mr. Wang once worked in Japan and in 2002, he returned to Beijing, where he established Beijing Inspiry Technology Co., Ltd. Inspiry invented the offline mobile payment solution, Smart Box, which serves as a self-service QR-code payment terminal and is now widely used across China.
China-based data analysis firm Analysys said in a report that Inspiry Smart Box helps promote the rapid growth of mobile payment services in China by leveraging its advantages in terms of price, efficiency, convenience and interactive experience. Mr. Wang indicated that, with the growing adoption of the 2D barcode payment method in Asia-Pacific countries, the self-service QR code payment solutions led by Inspiry Smart Box can be expected to become more widely available in Japan and across the wider Asia region.
