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SB Payment Service Corp. a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Jun Shimba), conducted a questionnaire survey on the actual usage of cashless payments and cash payments in brick-in-store. Below are excerpts from the survey results.

<Survey results>
Cashless payment is preferred by 72.7% overall, 76.8% in the Kanto region, and over 80% of "LINEMO," "ahamo," "povo," and "Rakuten Mobile" users.

When asked how often they would use cash or cashless payment when both are available at in-store, 29.7% overall answered "I will always use cashless payment," and the combined percentage of those who answered "I will always use cashless payment" or "I tend to use cashless payment" came to 72.7%, showing that cashless payment is the majority. Looking at the results by region, the Kanto region had the highest proportion of cashless payment users at 76.8%.

When looking at the smartphone carriers and brands used, over 80% of users who use online-only brands such as "LINEMO," "ahamo," "povo," and "Rakuten Mobile," or low-cost SIM cards, prefer cashless payment.

The top reasons for choosing cashless payment are "point rewards," "smooth payment," and "being able to pay even if you don't have cash on hand."

When asked why they choose cashless payment in in-store, 61.3% of respondents answered "because I get points back," followed by "because payments are smooth" (56.1%) and "because I can pay even if I don't have cash on hand" (36.0%).

69.4% of people place importance on cashless payment options, and 60.3% of people in their 20s have stopped making payments because a store did not support cashless payment options.

When asked how important it is to them whether in-store, the combined percentage of people who answered "it's very important" or "it's somewhat important" was 69.4%, indicating that approximately 70% of people place importance on whether in-store accepts cashless payments.

When asked if they had ever stopped paying at in-store because it did not support cashless payments, 39.1% of respondents overall answered "Yes." Looking at the results by age group, there was a tendency for younger people to be particularly likely to answer "Yes," with the highest percentage being those in their 20s at 60.3%.

When asked what impression they had of in-store when they found out that cashless payment was not available, the most common response was "I find it inconvenient and troublesome" (35.4%), while the same percentage of people (35.4%) said "I don't particularly mind." This was followed by "I feel the response is slow" (27.1%), "I find it difficult to return" (19.7%), and "I find the store unfriendly" (9.2%).

The most popular payment methods in in-store is "PayPay" (30.6%), surpassing "Credit Card Payment" which was number one in 2024. The percentage of people using "PayPay," "Rakuten Pay," "au PAY," "Merpay," and "J-Coin Pay" will increase from 2024.

When asked about the most frequently used cashless payment method at in-store in the past year, both men and women chose "PayPay" in first place, "Credit Card Payment" in second place, and "Rakuten Pay" in third place. In fourth place for men was "transportation IC card," and in fourth place for women was "WAON."

When looking at the results by smartphone carrier, we found that users of SoftBank and KDDI smartphones frequently use "PayPay," while users of NTT Docomo and Rakuten Mobile smartphones frequently use "Credit Card Payment."

When asked about the most commonly used cashless payment method at in-store over the past year, "PayPay" (30.6%) came in first place, overtaking "Credit Card Payment" which was number one in 2024. We also found that the percentage of people using "PayPay," "Rakuten Pay," "au PAY," "Merpay," and "J-Coin Pay" has increased compared to 2024.

When asked which brick-and-in-store they would be happy to visit if they accepted cashless payments, the top answer was "restaurants" (55.8%), followed by "hospitals and clinics" (53.9%) and "vending machines" (42.3%).

The top scenario in which people would like to use facial recognition payment is "when carrying large amounts of luggage" (40.1%), with 54.3% of people in their 20s interested in facial recognition payment.

When asked if they would like to use facial recognition payment in in-store, 34.8% of respondents showed a positive attitude, saying they would "like to try it" or "like to try it a little." In particular, 54.3% of people in their 20s showed interest in facial recognition payment, with the majority showing an interest.

When asked about facial recognition payment, other than those who answered "I don't want to do it," in what situations they would like to use it, the most common answer was "When I'm carrying a lot of luggage" (40.1%), followed by "When I need to verify my age" (32.4%) and "When I need to verify my identity, such as at a live concert" (29.8%), showing that there is a high demand for it when your hands are full or in situations where authentication is required for purposes other than payment.

SB Payment Service Corp. is PSP agency that offers many payment methods essential for in-store. If you are a business that is starting a store business or would like to expand your lineup of payment methods, please contact SB Payment Service Corp.

Download the full survey results here.

https://www.sbpayment.jp/whitepapers/download/survey-store.html

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・You are free to reproduce both the illustrations and text from this survey.
- The copyright of this survey belongs to SB Payment Service Corp., but permission to use it is granted to those who meet the following conditions of use.

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