GMO Payment Gateway and
Real World Forms Capital and Business Alliances

April 18, 2007
GMO Payment Gateway, Inc.

Develop non-face-to-face Credit card payment business at GMO Internet Group, GMO Payment Gateway, Inc. (TSE Mothers: Securities Code: 3769 Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, President & Chief Executive Officer: Issei Ainoura hereinafter referred to as GMO-PG) and Real World Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, President & Chief Executive Officer: Masaaki Kikuchi Hereinafter, On Wednesday, April 18, RealWorld) agreed to form a capital and business alliance, and launched Point Exchange*1, an online point exchange service business operated by Point Thailand Co., Ltd., a real-world subsidiary, that can be exchanged for cash, electronic money, products, etc., to e-commerce businesses that use GMO-PG's payment service. We will promote the use of it.

GMO-PG, the largest provider of Credit card payment processing services and processing payment of about 500 billion yen per year, and Realworld, which promotes the introduction of point exchange services with high convenience and user benefits, have launched point issuance services that have been limited to large companies, major sites, and major malls due to the burden of upfront investment and operation. We will collaborate on the deployment of "Point Exchange" so that it can be easily introduced by a wide range of e-commerce businesses, including small and medium-sized sites. With the spread of point issuance services by e-commerce businesses, consumers will be able to receive highly convenient points even when shopping at major sites and malls.

The two companies expect to introduce a new point exchange service to 1,000 sites in about three years.

In conjunction with this business alliance, the venture company support fund managed by GMO-PG and GMO VenturePartner Co., Ltd., a member of the GMO Internet Group, has undertaken a third-party allotment of 30 million yen to Real World at the end of March.

 

 

1. In order to improve the user convenience of the point exchange service "Point Exchange", it is possible to pay for the points that are insufficient at the time of product purchase with a credit card. ※2
2. We will expand and promote the use of "Point Exchange" to e-commerce businesses that use GMO-PG services and various other businesses that are considering introducing or expanding the point system.
3. We will consider issuing GMO-PG common points for users.
4. In the future, we will also consider linking with various point services of the GMO Internet Group.

*1 "Point Exchange" is a point issuance and exchange service operated by Point Thailand Co., Ltd., a subsidiary company that is 100% owned by Real World.
*2 Credit card payment This is a credit card that allows you to purchase insufficient points at the time of purchase of possible goods and services.

 

 

The annual issuance of points is said to be between 450 billion yen and 1 trillion yen. According to Nomura Research Institute, it is expected to expand by about 20% over the next five years.

 

 

Until now, it has been difficult for service providers to introduce point issuance services due to the upfront investment and management burden, as well as the actual effects of these efforts. "Point Exchange" can be started in a short period of time, at low cost, and without operational load. For this reason, the number of sites that introduce the point system has expanded widely, from individual sites to large-scale sites.

On the other hand, there were not many opportunities for users to take advantage of points of liquidity between different services and companies. In the "Point Exchange", you can combine the points you have accumulated from different services and use them for things that you feel are valuable, such as exchanging them for electronic money or participating in volunteer activities.

Through "Point Exchange", Real World is trying to make it a service where 10,000 people can earn 500,000 yen per month in five years. With the points you accumulate, people with the same values will come together to create new things in the real world. We want users to feel satisfied with something that is more valuable than money. With that in mind, we have adopted the name of the company Real World.

 

 

In order to provide consumers and businesses with a safer and more convenient online shopping environment, GMO-PG is developing services for early payment of sales proceeds and electronic money-related payment services such as mobile Thailand credit on the system infrastructure built by the Credit card payment processing service. This time, we will provide even more convenience by providing the point system as a value-added service.