JCB, in Collaboration with Digital Garage, to Conduct a Proof of Concept (PoC) for Stablecoin-Based Payments at a Lawson Store
Intending to Enable In-Store Payments (CPM Method) Using “USDC” by Inbound Visitors to Japan
TOKYO, Aug 19, 2026 – (JCN Newswire) – JCB Co., Ltd. (JCB) and Digital Garage, Inc. (Digital Garage), together with Lawson, Inc. (Lawson), are delighted to reveal that they have actually concluded a Basic Agreement towards carrying out an evidence of principle (PoC) for in-store payments utilizing stablecoins.
Under this arrangement, the 3 business will integrate JCB’s stablecoin payment service, Digital Garage’s innovations associated to payment APIs and back-end systems, and Lawson’s competence in shop operations to determine obstacles and check out options for recognizing stablecoin payments at physical shops. The PoC will concentrate on validating usage cases in which incoming visitors to Japan make in-store payments utilizing the United States dollar-pegged stablecoin “USDC.”
Background to the Basic Agreement
As Japan’s cashless payment ratio continues to increase, physical shops are progressively accommodating a wide variety of payment techniques. Owing to their high level of benefit, stablecoins are drawing in attention all over the world as a structure supporting a brand-new environment for a cashless society, and the marketplace is broadening quickly. In the payments domain in specific, their usage is anticipated to provide a broad series of advantages, consisting of minimizing the currency-exchange problem on incoming visitors to Japan, additional enhancing the effectiveness of fund settlement, and boosting merchants’ capital.
Through this effort, JCB’s stablecoin payment service, Digital Garage’s innovations associated to payment APIs and back-end systems, and Lawson’s competence in shop operations and POS systems will be united to carry out a PoC confirming the capacity of stablecoin payments at physical shops.
Summary of the PoC
In this PoC, the celebrations will embrace the CPM (Consumer-Presented Mode) approach, in which a barcode including the stablecoin wallet address info showed on the user’s smart device is scanned by Lawson’s in-store POS. Through this, the PoC will mostly confirm the usefulness and benefit of the usage case in which users make in-store payments utilizing the United States dollar– pegged stablecoin “USDC.”
In addition, the connection in between Lawson’s in-store POS system and JCB’s stablecoin payment service will use the code-payment processing innovation offered by Canal Payment Service Co., Ltd.
The primary functions of each business are as follows:
JCB Co., Ltd.
- Arrangement of the stablecoin payment service, consisting of the following functions and operations:
・ Provision of the user-facing web system (payment screen)
・ Provision of the payment barcode generation function
- Settlement of sales profits to merchants:
・ Receives users’ stablecoins, aggregates the sales profits, and consequently pays merchants in fiat currency.
Digital Garage, Inc.
- Arrangement of payment APIs and backend systems
- Technical assistance throughout the PoC duration
Lawson, Inc.
- Arrangement of the shop environment for this PoC
- Combination in between the in-store POS system and JCB’s stablecoin payment service
PoC Implementation Summary
Efforts Toward the Social Implementation of Stablecoin Payments in Japan
In January 2026, JCB, together with Digital Garage and Resona Holdings, Inc., introduced a partnership towards the social execution of stablecoin payments (* 1)Under this cooperation, with Digital Garage as a partner, the celebrations are performing PoCs on stablecoin payments at physical shops to determine and analyze options to the difficulties associated with recognizing stablecoin payments amongst merchants in Japan.
(* 1) News release dated January 16, 2026: “JCB, Digital Garage, and Resona Holdings Launch Collaboration Toward the Social Implementation of Stablecoin Payments”https://www.global.jcb/ja/press/2026/202601161100_others.pdf
About JCB
JCB is a significant international payment brand name and a leading charge card provider and acquirer in Japan. JCB released its card service in Japan in 1961 and started broadening worldwide in 1981. Its approval network consists of about 72 million merchants all over the world. JCB Cards are now provided generally in Asian nations and areas, with more than 181 million cardmembers. As part of its worldwide development method, JCB has actually formed alliances with numerous leading banks and banks worldwide to increase its merchant protection and cardmember base. As an extensive payment option supplier, JCB devotes to supplying responsive and premium product and services to all consumers worldwide. To find out more, please check out: www.global.jcb/en/
Contact
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