JCB and Net Protections Partner Together in Service Introductions

JCB Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Chairman and President: Ichiro Hamakawa; hereinafter “JCB”) have signed a contract with Net Protections Holdings Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Shin Shibata; hereinafter “Net Protections”) to introduce Net Protections’s Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services. The contract will see JCB handling the following four services provided by Net Protections: BtoC E-Commerce BNPL service “NP Atobarai”, BtoB BNPL service “NP Kakebarai”, BtoC BNPL service “NP Atobarai air” for day-to-day services, and BtoC BNPL service with membership benefits “atone”.

JCB and Net Protections entered into a capital and business partnership in February 2021. Both companies are looking to improve payment convenience through mutual cooperation in payment services and to collaborate in a wide range of fields including R&D and operations.

The two companies’ cooperative initiatives start in earnest with this contract which will see JCB participating businesses, the largest network of participating businesses in Japan, step up the introduction of BNPL services offered by Net Protections, a major BNPL service provider in Japan.

This partnership makes it possible to provide participating merchants and customers with the convenience of BNPL services in all BtoC and BtoB markets.

Going forward the companies will continue to envision potential ways of collaborating together in a strong partnership.

"NP Atobarai" is Japan's leading BNPL service. It offers customers payment after delivery service with a simplified payment process, no credit card information is required. NP Atobarai processes transactions exceeding JPY 340 billion with over 15.8 million unique users yearly, making it the most experienced and trusted in Japan’s BNPL industry. 1 out of 7 Japanese has used NP Atobarai as payment method. Customers find NP Atobarai easy and safe to use, especially with their first-time visited online retailers. Merchants that use NP Atobarai have achieved 20% increase in sales without its customers’ unpaid risk.
For further information regarding NP Atobarai：https://www.netprotections.com/(Japanese Only)

“NP Kakebarai” is BtoB BNPL service that guarantees any risk for unpaid payments and reduces unnecessary operational processes in BtoB transactions for enterprises. It helps merchants manage invoice issuing, payment collection, management, and credit screening for buyers.
With NP Kakebarai, merchants can expect stabilization of business management by reducing the burden of large amount of small payment collections and start business with small business owners without risk by eliminating credit screening procedures. NP Kakebarai’s sophisticated credit screening system, which is running by its own independent big data accumulated more than 20 years, provides instant credit while maintaining sufficient credit approval rates. As of 2021, NP Kakebarai processes transactions of JPY 75 billion annually, used by more than 410,000 merchants, as 1 out of 8 companies in Japan has used NP Kakebarai as their payment method. Through NP Kakebarai, NP is dedicated to providing a service to build a sustainable world in which all stakeholders are empowered to thrive and grow their business smoothly.
For further information regarding NP Kakebaraihttps://np-kakebarai.com/(Japanese Only)

"NP Atobarai air" is BtoC BNPL service for a wide variety of operational needs for day-to-day services. It can be used in various fields such as home appliance repair, maintenance, home/office cleaning, and rental services. With its simplified process, NP Atobarai air allows merchants to handle complicated procedures such as invoice issuing, collecting, payment confirmation, and customers` unpaid risk prevention. Also, it offers customers various payment options such as wire-transfer, convenience store payment, Post Office payment, and LINE Pay.
For further information regarding NP Atobarai airhttps://www.netprotections.com/air/(Japanese Only)

BtoC BNPL service with membership benefits “atone” enables customers to fulfill their needs to shop without credit cards.Register online in easy steps, anyone can purchase immediately and pay in the following month. Reward points earned from use worth 0.5% after a purchase is made can be used for discounts.atone provides with best processing fee in Japan industry of 1.9% + JPY 30 for both E-commerce vendors and offline retailers. Satisfying the demand for post-payment not only leads to the increase of online sales by 20% but also provides customers an option to meet the needs of cash payment when shopping in offline stores with a whole new cashless payment experience. 
For further information regarding atone：https://atone.be/shop/(Japanese Only)

JCB is a major global payment brand and a leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981. Its acceptance network includes about 35 million merchants in the world. JCB Cards are now issued in over 20 countries and territories with more than 140 million cardmembers. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with hundreds of leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase merchant coverage and cardmember base. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to providing responsive and high-quality service and products to all customers worldwide. For more information, please visit
https://www.global.jcb/ja/　

Net Protections, Inc. is a pioneer company in Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services in Japan and is leading the market with the largest market share (※A). In 2002, Net Protections launched its first service, NP Atobarai, a BNPL that guarantees risk-free transactions for businesses and provides a deferred payment for customers in Japan for the first time. In FY2020, NP Atobarai’s annual transaction volume has hit the growth rate of 116% compared to the previous fiscal year. NP Atobarai is used by numerous enterprises with over 15.8 million unique users in Japan (※B) and has processed more than 280 million transactions to date. In 2011, Net Protections released NP Kakebarai, a BNPL service for BtoB. NP Kakebarai has grown 127% yearly and played a role as the dominant BtoB payment service in Japan. In 2017, Net Protections launched atone, BtoC BNPL service with membership benefits that offers better shopping experience. In 2018, Net Protections released AFTEE, BtoC BNPL service in Taiwan. Net Protections has accumulated transaction data and knowledge since its first service launched, which has enabled it to build a sophisticated credit screening system and solid operation skills. Net Protections always pursues creating a society where everyone can do business safely and easily. NP has accumulated transaction data since its first service launched, which enables the pursuit of new opportunities in the field of big data analysis.

・Company Name：Net Protections, Inc.
・Representative：Shin Shibata, CEO
・Website：https://corp.netprotections.com/
・Business Outline：
BtoC E-Commerce BNPL Service “NP Atobarai”
BtoB BNPL Service “NP Kakebarai”
BtoC BNPL Service “NP Atobarai air” for day-to-day services
BtoC BNPL Service with membership benefits “atone”
BtoC BNPL Service in Taiwan “AFTEE”
Reward Point Program: NP Point Club
・Founded：January, 2000
・Capital：JPY 100 million yen
・Headquarter： SUMITOMO FUDOSAN KOJIMACHI FIRST BILDING 5F,Kojimachi 4-2-6, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083 Japan

※A) Surveyed Japan's top 300 companies in the “75th EC and mail order sales ranking” published in Tsuhan Shimbun as of Jan. 7, 2021. Based on the portion of merchants outsourcing BNPL operations that use NP Atobarai as of Mar. 1, 2020.
※B) Source: Company information.The number of annual unique users: the number of users based on the matching of names and phone numbers during a fiscal year (Apr.1, 2020 to Mar.31, 2021)

Direct any inquiries regarding this release to: 
JCB​
EMAIL：jcb-pr@jcb.co.jp

Net Protections, Inc.
EMAIL：pr@netprotections.co.jp