The news that Google will acquire the smartphone payment 'pring' is talked about

On the evening of July 8, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Google would acquire the Japanese smartphone payment startup 'pring'. Although Metaps, one of the parent companies of 'pring', released a release that it was not announced by the company, the topic is spreading.

Google enters full-scale financial entry in Japan Domestic smartphone payment acquisition: Nihon Keizai Shimbun
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUB256V60V20C21A6000000/

Google to roll out fintech services in Japan --Nikkei Asia
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Google-to-roll-out-fintech-services-in-Japan

This matter was reported by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun at 18:00 on July 8, 2021, and at the same time, an article was published on Nikkei Asia, Nikkei's overseas news site.

According to Nikkei, the scale of the acquisition is 20 to 30 billion yen. Google did not acknowledge the fact of this acquisition.

In addition, Metaps Inc., which owns pring Inc., which operates 'pring' as an affiliated company subject to the Holding Law, responded immediately to the press and released the following release on IR.

About today's partial coverage
(PDF file) https://ssl4.eir-parts.net/doc/6172/tdnet/1999090/00.pdf

Today, in the electronic edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, there was a report regarding the transfer of shares of pring Inc., an affiliate accounted for by the equity method of the Company, but it has not been announced by the Company. In addition, although the Company is reviewing its business portfolio to realize the medium-term management plan, there are no decisions to be disclosed at this time.

Although neither party acknowledged the fact, the fact that 'Google may enter the Japanese cashless payments market' is of great interest and buzz. The factor of interest is that cash payments are still stronger than cashless payments in Japan.

PYMNTS.com, a news site dealing with payment topics, heard from investment fund Bain Capital's Darren Abrahamson that Japan certainly has an advantage in cash payments, but it is a 'turning point' to cashless payments. There are three possible reasons.

Google Expands FinTech Ambitions In Japan | PYMNTS.com
https://www.pymnts.com/news/partnerships-acquisitions/2021/google-expands-fintech-ambitions-japan-pring-acquisition/

The first reason Abrahamson cited is that the younger generation, which is becoming a large part of the consumer economy, wants to change to 'digital' in line with their habits. ..

The second reason is that cashless promotion policies are being adopted for conversion, such as cash back when using cashless payment.

And the third reason is the diminished willingness of consumers to 'handle cash' due to the pandemic.

It is true that Google is focusing on 'fintech' (financial technology), and the amount of investment in this field from January to March 2021 was about doubled from the same period of the previous year to $ 22.8 billion (about). It is said that it has reached 2.5 trillion yen).

It's not yet clear if the pring acquisition is true, but on news site SiliconANGLE, Google has acquired fintech companies in a wider area or is still offering them to increase market share. He points out that he may buy a startup that handles no financial products.

Report: Google set to acquire Japan's Pring for $ 180M + to boost fintech business --SiliconANGLE
https://siliconangle.com/2021/07/08/report-google-set-acquire-japans-pring-180m-boost-fintech-business/