Japan's KDDI and MasterCard will next week launch the “au WALLET” prepaid card program, to enable KDDI’s au mobile network subscribers to settle their purchases at any merchant that accepts MasterCard payment cards.
The au WALLET card is obtainable without any credit evaluation and can be reloaded at au shops or online. Users can check their balance anytime, anywhere with their au mobile phone.
The service will go live on May 21. Under the au WALLET Points Program cardholders will receive au WALLET Points for every purchase made with the card. Points can be redeemed when paying au phone bills or making other shopping payments.
“The MasterCard prepaid program is expanding globally, particularly in the APMEA region where the gross dollar value of MasterCard’s prepaid card business grew 40% in 2013,” said Ron Hynes, group executive of MasterCard’s Global Prepaid Solutions.
Robert Luton, division president of MasterCard Japan, said that Japanese consumers are savvy users of electronic payments, and so they are being provided additional value-added payment options as MasterCard further expands its presence in Japan.