Tokyo-based Line Pay Corp yesterday announced that it would establish a strategic partnership with Visa Inc to create new financial services experiences for users of its digital wallet and financial technology (fintech) services on the Line messaging app.
The strategic partnership is a global alliance and expected to help Line Pay’s operation in Taiwan expand the business, as more Visa cards will be smoothly integrated in Line app, one official at the company’s local branch said, declining to be named.
This new partnership extends the existing relationship between Line Pay and Visa, which includes co-branded Line Pay Visa cards in Taiwan and which is to be launched later this year in Japan, the company said in a statement.
Photo: Lee Ching-hui, Taipei Times
The current terms of Line Taiwan’s cooperation with card-issuing agencies and local lenders would remain the same until further details of the new collaboration are disclosed by Line Pay, the official said.
Line Pay and Visa would collaborate across multiple areas, including consumer payments, merchant solutions and fintech services.
“With Visa’s global network and infrastructure, Line Pay users will be able to enjoy the advantages of that innovative, worldwide network,” Line Pay chief executive officer Ko Young-su said in the statement.
“The Visa co-brand program that currently serves 2.3 million customers in Taiwan is one of Visa’s fastest-growing programs globally,” Visa regional president for Asia Pacific Chris Clark said in a statement.
Line Pay users would be able to apply for a digital Visa card directly using the Line app or link any of their existing Visa cards to their accounts in the digital wallet for mobile payment, the company said.
Line Pay users currently number 187 million, it added.
Line Pay users would be able to use the digital card at 54 million merchant locations worldwide that accept Visa cards, and they would be given special rewards compared to regular holders of Visa cards, it said.
Line Pay and Visa would develop new financial services based on blockchain technology, enabling business-to-business and cross-border payments and alternative currency transactions, Line Pay said.
The number of Line Pay users in Taiwan stood at 1.46 million as of the end of April, making it No. 1 among all electronic payment service companies in the nation, Financial Supervisory Commission data showed.
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