GMO Payment Gateway,
Japan first OpenID payment service to be developed and available by the end of the year

October 7, 2009
GMO Payment Gateway, Inc.

GMO payment processing business Payment Gateway Co., Ltd. (TSE Partial: Securities Code: 3769 Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, President & Chief Executive Officer: Issei Ainoura (hereinafter referred to as GMO-PG) is the first in Japan to provide an ID and password. We have developed a payment service that utilizes OpenID that can be used for credit card information. Through this service, we aim to realize a highly convenient environment where you can complete a series of procedures from logging in to different e-commerce sites to payment products with just one ID, and we plan to start providing it by the end of this year.

In recent years, OpenID, which allows a single ID to be used in common between different e-commerce sites and services, is expanding worldwide, with the number of OpenIDs issued worldwide estimated to reach 1.44 billion by the end of 2009 (*1), and the number of services supported by major operators is increasing in Japan. However, even if you can log in to different EC sites with a single ID that supports OpenID, there is no service that allows you to use the information necessary for purchase, such as credit card information, in common, and you need to enter information for each EC site at the time of purchase. It can be said that it is still a hassle for users.

Against this backdrop, GMO-PG has developed an OpenID payment service that eliminates the time and effort required to enter users' credit card information, etc., by utilizing OpenID, which is highly convenient and allows users to use IDs and passwords on different e-commerce sites. This is the first service in Japan and is scheduled to be launched by the end of this year.

Users only need to enter their credit card information when obtaining an OpenID, and they do not need to enter this information when purchasing on any e-commerce site that supports GMO-PG's OpenID payment service.

For e-commerce businesses, opportunity loss due to the hassle of entering users' credit card information, etc. can be greatly reduced, and since credit card information does not need to be retained, there is no need to struggle to strengthen defenses against unauthorized access from the outside or prevent internal leaks.

Currently, GMO-PG is conducting a demonstration of OpenID payment service linkage with EC-CUBE (*2), an open source EC site construction company (*3), and with a view to expanding to various payment method in addition to Credit card payment, we plan to start providing the service by the end of this year after evaluating and verifying the system and legal system in cooperation with related organizations.

In addition, Epsilon Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, President & Chief Executive Officer: Yusuke Arai), which is the consolidated subsidiary of GMO-PG, provides a payment service using the GMO Internet Group's own ID, "GMO Tokutoku ID" (*4), and GMO-PG and Epsilon Co., Ltd. have developed the newly developed OpenID payment We plan to provide both services and GMO Internet Group's own ID payment services.

(*1) Source: OpenID Foundation
(*2) EC-CUBE: Open source the know-how (modules) cultivated by Rock-On Co., Ltd. through the construction of EC sites
EC site construction package provided. It is currently in operation at thousands of e-commerce sites. http://www.ec-cube.net/
(*3) Implemented OpenID AX, an extended specification for exchanging attribute information. By the end of this year, we are also looking to support the expanded specifications that further strengthen the security aspect of AX.
I'm putting it in the field.
(*4) "GMO Tokutoku ID": A common ID that can be used for multiple services of the GMO Internet Group. GMO and especially ID
If you use the same email address and password, you can log in to each service and apply when you start using each service.
You can easily fill out forms and more.

(1) Date: Scheduled to start in 2009
(2) Contents: After evaluation and verification from the following perspectives, we will start commercial provision.

• Verifying the usefulness of OpenID as an authentication system
• Validating the exchange of attribute information, including credit card information
• EC site constructionVerification of EC site OpenID support in open source EC-CUBE
• Verification of attribute information linkage across multiple EC sites
• Verifying Peer-to-Peer Authentication System Interoperability
• Verification of the legal system