Even in cash-preferred Japan, postpaid payment craze... Paidy to list on Tokyo Stock Exchange within the year

Japanese Fintech Unicorn 'Paidy'
Valuation Exceeds 1 Trillion Won
Itochu, PayPal, and Goldman Sachs Also Invested

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Japanese fintech unicorn Paidy is set to enter the Tokyo Stock Exchange within this year. Especially in Japan, where cash payments are still preferred, Paidy's popularity is considered an exceptional case, leading to forecasts that the postpaid payment service market will grow significantly in Japan.

According to major foreign media on the 29th (local time), Paidy plans to apply for an initial public offering (IPO) in Tokyo this year. However, the specific listing schedule has not been announced.

Paidy is a startup that began its service in 2014, offering a BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) service that allows users to pay for their monthly purchases the following month. BNPL is a service where the payment company pays the price of goods on behalf of consumers first, and consumers repay the payment company in installments over a certain period after purchase.

Paidy subscribers can shop online by selecting Paidy as the payment method, entering their email address and phone number, and then entering the verification code sent to them.

Paidy has over 6 million subscribers, about half of whom are women aged 18 to 34. They use Paidy services on e-commerce sites such as Amazon, Shopify, Apple, and Rakuten. Notably, in October last year, Paidy launched a service allowing consumers to pay for products in interest-free installments over three months, which major foreign media reported as Japan's first interest-free installment service.

BNPL is gaining global popularity by appealing to the MZ generation, who want to have products immediately but are extremely reluctant to incur debt. Afterpay from Australia, acquired by Square led by Jack Dorsey, is a representative BNPL service. Recently, US companies Affirm and PayPal have also entered the BNPL market.

Although BNPL is emerging as a global trend, Paidy's popularity is considered unusual in Japanese society, which still prefers cash. However, with the recent spread of COVID-19 increasing e-commerce, demand for electronic payments has surged, leading to a significant increase in BNPL services. Yano Research Institute projected that the transaction volume through postpaid services in Japan was only 882 billion yen (about 9.37 trillion won) last year but is expected to more than double to 1.88 trillion yen (about 20 trillion won) by 2024.

Due to such high growth potential, Japanese general trading company Itochu, PayPal, and Goldman Sachs are also known to have invested in Paidy. Paidy received $120 million (about 140 billion won) in investment last March, and at that time, its valuation reached $1.3 billion (about 1.5 trillion won), entering the 'unicorn' category (startups valued over 1 trillion won).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.