Rakuten and Japan Post join forces to enhance digital delivery, cashless payments

By Leandra Monteiro

Japan’s postal system is investing $1.4 billion to acquire an 8% stake in the e-commerce venture Rakuten to strengthen a partnership in deliveries, FinTech and other areas. Japan Post Holdings President Hiroya Masuda recently revealed that the deal brought together the digital and the real.

The collaboration between the old-style analog mail and Rakuten, founded in 1997 and having 70 digital businesses, was announced earlier this month. It includes delivery services that allow people to make online reservations to pick up packages and mail in various locations whenever they want, both sides confirmed.

Rakuten will provide the post office with advanced technology advice and personnel. In return, Rakuten can use the post office’s network throughout the nation to sell its mobile service at real-life counters. As of now the subscriptions were mostly taken online.

Cashless payments are another area where the two entities can possibly collaborate. The Japanese post office is one of the biggest banking institutions in the country, holding more than $1.7 trillion in individual savings. Introducing more digital technologies will help the post office deal with the labour shortages that plague many Japanese businesses. Rakuten lags Amazon in the Japanese market and globally and is eager to expand. The Japanese company racked up a $1 billion loss in the fiscal year through December, hurt by some costly investments.

According to media reports, Rakuten’s CEO Hiroshi Mikitani said he hopes working with the post office will help empower rural economies and turn a new page for Japanese industries. “We are becoming family,” he said.

Rakuten, Inc.  is an ecommerce company in Japan. Rakuten provides a variety of consumer and business-focused services including e-commerce, e-reading, travel, banking, securities, credit card, e-money, portal and media, online marketing and professional sports. The company is expanding globally and currently has operations throughout Asia, Western Europe, and the Americas.