TOKYO: As part of its push into Japan’s fast developing market for cashless services, Google has agreed to buy payments company Pring from backers including fintech firm Metaps. Metaps, software business Miroku Jyoho Service, and Nippon Gas, the startup’s three largest shareholders, said on Tuesday that they will sell their combined 87 percent stake in Pring to Google.
Metaps has announced the sale of its 45 percent ownership in the company for 4.9 billion yen (US$44 million).
Since 2016, Google has been operating its smartphone payments service, now known as Google Pay, in Japan. Japanese customers are being encouraged to move away from a deep-seated fondness for cash by tech businesses such as SoftBank and Rakuten, as well as financial firms.
Reuters is the source of this information./n
