At a news conference in Tokyo today, it was announced that Softbank Corp. and Paypal will work together to form a new joint venture project focused on the e-payments market. This new venture will targeted at users of Apple’s iPhone, and giving them the ability to make quick, easy payments from their device while on the go. Both Softbank and Paypal have said they will be investing 1 billion yen (approx. $12.53 million) into the new project. This announcement came directly from Masayoshi Son, the president of Softbank.
Softbank is currently Japan’s third largest mobile service provider, coming in after KDDI Corp. and the country’s largest, NTT Docomo. Softbank was the first carrier to partner with Apple for the release of the iPhone in Japan, and until last year, when KDDI began offering the iPhone 4S, it was the only provider that offered the ultra-popular device. Paypal is a subsidiary of America’s eBay Inc. eBay is the world’s largest online auction marketplace, and the only closest domestic rival in Japan would be the Rakuten network. Paypal is seen as the leading online e-payment system, allowing users to send or receive payments, all without having to provide any credit card or detailed personal information to other parties.