TSYS announced today that it would begin processing Visa-branded prepaid cards for the Japanese market in July 2009. The prepaid cards will be issued by Travel Bank Inc., a financial services company that is part of the JTB Group. Consumers can use the cards to make payments at Visa merchants when traveling overseas or to withdraw cash from Visa ATMs. READ MORE

JCB has announced the appointment of Mr. Koremitsu Sannomiya as President and Chief Operating Officer at its annual shareholders' meeting in Tokyo. Mr. Sannomiya succeeds Mr. Kenji Seto, who has served in the position since June 2007. Mr. Sannomiya will report to Mr. Tamio Takakura, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. READ MORE

InComm has announced that, beginning today, Seiyu shoppers can purchase a range of iTunes Cards at all 392 retail locations throughout Japan through in-store technology powered by InComm's Fastcard point-of-sale activation (POS) technology. Rolling out first with iTunes Cards, Seiyu will expand the offering at all retail locations offering a wide-variety of gift card selections over the next few years. READ MORE

Celent has published a new report titled "Electronic Money: Contactless Payment in Japan".

"ONE Payment Alliance Corp., a collaborated payment processing service with ChinaPay, ECONTEXT, and INICIS, announced today it has launched an online payment processing service for China, Japan, and Korea market with a single interface, a single merchant service, and a single payment gateway to reach out to online consumers in the three largest economies in Asia. This alliance service is available to begin online payment processing services to many global merchants wishing to conduct online business in China, Japan and Korea immediately."

NEC Corporation and Valista International have announced forming a "strategic partnership to target payments solutions business opportunities in Japan with secure and flexible payments offerings." The two companies also said that "the partnership also has sights beyond the Japanese domestic market aiming to expand into the global telecommunications market combining NEC's proven strength in system integration and Valista's global experience in payments, settlement, and merchandizing solutions."

On the Digital Money blog, Dave Birch digs into the impact that contactless mobile payments are having on the levels of cash in circulation in Japan. "The Feds say that the Bank of Japan reported that the total amount of cash in circulation has started to fall for the first time on record."

Reuters reports that NTT DoCoMo and McDonald's have announced they will be forming a new joint venture company to facilitate acceptance of mobile payments at McDonald's locations in Japan.

JCB is holding its 10th JCB World Conference from November 13th to 15th in Honolulu with a theme of 'Working
Together to Shape the Future of Payments'.

Yuka Hayashi reports for the Wall St. Journal on the shift that's taking place as Japanese consumers begin to move away from paying with cash to increasingly pay using credit cards. Among other factors, the popularity of shopping online is behind the behavioral shift - as cash payments aren't possible online. On the other hand, the use of revolving credit - the mainstay of US credit card issuer economics - is a second behavioral shift that's still on the horizon.