Japan to allow wage payments to digital wallets from April

All of this freakshow with QR code payment apps is because of banks refusing to digitalize and develop actually usable mobile apps and enable contactless payments via debit cards and phones.

The operators will be required to immediately transfer balances exceeding 1 million yen to bank accounts and to fully compensate losses incurred due to bankruptc

Highly unlikely. Trying to get unpaid wages from a bankrupt and reincorporated Japanese company is a bureaucratic nightmare.

In Japan where wage theft is so endemic digital wage payment may not be a plus.

That's pretty cool to be able to get your wages into paypay straight away- at least for convenience's sake. Also I like how you can always check your balance with paypay. The problem I see is with establishments that don't have the paypay option (and there are quite a few).

Sounds similarly semi-illegal like the current and btw also and already virtual payments into bank accounts. Only the printed notes and minted coins issued by the BoJ are real money, everything else are only substitutes, although admitted, widely accepted by common behavior or daily usage. Some of us may still remember the time when everyone was paid wages in a paper envelope , personally handed over by a company representative or the owner himself, containing the cash and the paper of how the wages had been calculated. That’s the real valid and only fully legal way how to do that, fulfilled work load in a certain fixed time period by the employee vs employer handing over legal central bank issued real money notes and coins at the contracted value for that fulfilled workload in that time period. But go ahead, you’re not knowing what you’re doing anyway, for quite some years already.

I hope my company doesn’t go this route. They still use fax machines so hopefully that’s a good indication.

Is this OK security wise? Payment to bank account is working perfectly. I can't really see the advantage of the change.

But how will the wives have access to their husbands' salaries?

First it's allowed, later it'll be mandatory.

I hope my company doesn’t go this route. They still use fax machines so hopefully that’s a good indication.

Maybe, unless they decide to start faxing your salary to you.

Giving people the option is nice and all… but why would anyone want to do this?

Makes no sense to me. Locations you can use it are limited. Network conditions can make digital payments un-usable (basement floors, parts of the countryside etc etc) Restaurants etc during lunch often only accept cash… how about your bank transfers to pay rent etc… there are holes in this idea everywhere….

How much trouble is it really to top-up you digital wallet from a linked bank account?…not much trouble at all and depending on the service you use you can set it up do to it automatically… This looks more of a show to make it appear that things are moving forward to compensate for the banks which are still in the stone age… fact is though you can use your cash anywhere so for versatility it still cant be beaten.

I bet the uptake of this and workers volunteering to get paid in this way would be very small.

I wonder how much of a slice those companies handling the payments are getting.

But I've had cashless payments for decades and decades. It is called my bank account.

This is not a security issue at all....

Why not just bring Japanese banks into the 21st century instead of going through third party organizations and apps? Always taking the overly complicated and convoluted way, Japan...

Bad idea. The gov want that system because the research shows people who use these digital wallets spend on average 10% more than other who use pure cash. No wonder they think it’ll stimulate the economy.

? This has got to be the weirdest way of "making things digital" I have ever heard...

Honestly can't even reason to whose benefit is it... If the employee doesn't use the digital wallet or has no need for it, they wouldn't agree to it... Method of payment is so fluid these days, it just doesn't matter in what form it's paid to you in.

@YeahRight The wives will become hijackers of their husbands accounts. My only concern would be hackers and what it the system goes down and cause delays in transactions from the company to the bank.

But how will the wives have access to their husbands' salaries?

No thanks.

I'd prefer the Bank to loose my monies in which case I'd get some/all back, rather than a theft from my "Digital Wallet" in which case I am at fault, and get nothing back.

How is it more convenient then continuing to get the salary directly deposited into bank accounts which are connected to the payment apps anyway? At least the bank balance is insured, unlike payment app balance.

I like using payment apps (I used to use Google Pay back in the US, well before they became a thing here). But, I just don't understand the logic behind this scheme.

Personally, I have my payment apps set to default to a credit card, rather than cash balance. I earn PayPay/D-Pay/R-Pay points plus ANA miles from the card. Win-win. Plus, the balance is paid in full every month directly from the bank, so no interest is charged.

tokyo_m - Back in the UK my bank debit card can be used for cashless payments, no need for an app or any third-party. Why is it so complicated here in Japan?

You can do the same here with a bank debit card. Ask your bank for one.

I don't use mine, as I'd rather get the miles/points from using rewards-type credit cards. Also, the payment apps give you points which translate to yen, which can be used later to pay for stuff.