Japanese convenience store chain Lawson is piloting a yen-backed stablecoin payment system. [Getty Images]
Japanese convenience store chain Lawson is piloting a yen-backed stablecoin payment system. [Getty Images]

Japanese convenience store chain Lawson is set to pilot a yen-backed stablecoin payment system integrated with its point-of-sale terminals.

The Nikkei reported Monday that Lawson will test a payment system using JPYC, a yen-pegged stablecoin, at its Takanawa Gateway City branch in Minato Ward, central Tokyo, starting in early August. Customers can complete a purchase by scanning a digital wallet barcode on their smartphone at the store's POS terminal. Operators can use the system to manage payment and inventory data.

Lawson said the POS-integrated stablecoin setup is the first of its kind in Japan, adding that it will consider expanding the system to more stores based on the pilot results.

In Japan, stablecoin payments carry lower merchant fees than credit cards or QR code payment services. Stablecoin payments without POS integration have already appeared in scattered cases. An okonomiyaki restaurant in Osaka had previously adopted yen-backed stablecoin payments, and dental clinics in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture began accepting the currency this month.

Japan's three major banks — Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho — have announced plans to jointly issue a yen-pegged stablecoin within the current fiscal year, which runs from last April through March next year. The bank-issued yen stablecoin is expected to serve as a primary settlement tool for buying and selling shares and bonds in partnership with major securities firms.


kate01@heraldcorp.com