If you were hoping for a streamlined cashless payment roadmap for Japan, forget it. Things are just going to get more complex as various reward point ecosystems (Rakuten point, d-Point, Ponta point, etc.) slug it out for dominance across smartphone apps (QR Codes) and digital wallet platforms (NFC). Mercari joined the fray with MerPay on Apple Pay, a virtual prepaid Mastercard provided via the Sumitomo Mitsui bank group and hosted on the iD contactless payment network.
Mercari was founded by a former Rakuten employee and follows their basic business model of hosting a virtual marketplace for buyers and sellers. The idea behind MerPay is that sellers can use money earned from sales or points via the virtual prepaid card for store purchases, Suica recharge, etc. Users can also recharge MerPay from a linked bank account.
Hachimaki san of Kanmu Ltd. has dug into MerPay details with a helpful flowchart.
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