Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, 2015-9-18 — /EPR Retail News/ — Lawson, Inc. will start new services for holders of the UnionPay card which is widely used in mainland China to improve convenience for foreign tourists. From September 24th, 2015, customers can pay by UnionPay credit card at all Lawson stores in Japan (12,195 stores as of Aug 31, 2015). From September 28, 2015, customers can also withdraw Japanese yen by UnionPay credit or debit card on a newly introduced ATM at about 1,000 stores in Japan.
◆Payment by UnionPay credit card
Customers can pay by UnionPay credit card at all Lawson stores in Japan. By the end of August 2015, there were 12,195 Lawson stores in Japan, including “LAWSON”, “NATURAL LAWSON” and “LAWSON STORE 100” in Japan.
Note: UnionPay debit card is not available yet.
Special coupon campaign for Chinese National Day
During the Chinese National Day holidays, a large number of Chinese tourists are expected to visit Japan. During this holiday season, Lawson will launch a coupon campaign for customers who use the UnionPay credit card for settlement.
Outline of the campaign: Customers who have purchased over 2,000 JPY (including tax) using the UnionPay credit card can get a 200 JPY coupon ticket which can be used in next payment.
Campaign period : From October 1 to 31
Coupon using period : From October 1 to November 7
Note: Coupon tickets will not be issued if purchase of cigarettes are on the shopping list. This Campaign is only for UnionPay Credit card whose card number starts with ‘62’.
At Lawson stores in Japan, the average shopping amount per payment is 600 JPY. Among them, the average payment made by credit card is twice as much, at around 1,300 JPY. Furthermore, in some pre-launched stores where payment by UnionPay card is already available, the average shopping amount made by UnionPay card jumps to about 3,000 to 4,000 JPY.
Foreign visitors going to Lawson stores buy not only rice balls and drinks, but also confectionery and daily goods as souvenirs. This campaign will be able to meet a wide range of needs from foreign visitors to Lawson stores.
◆Withdrawal of Japanese Yen using UnionPay card
Lawson is introducing a new type of ATMs featuring high processing speed, energy-saving and high security. At about 1,000 Lawson stores where the new ATMs have been installed, customers can withdraw Japanese yen by UnionPay credit or debit card from September 28, 2015.
Lawson plans to introduce 1,500 to 2,000 new ATMs every year. Around 2020, all ATMs at Lawson stores will be able to accept both UnionPay credit and debit cards. Lawson also plans to have its new type of ATM accept Visa, MasterCard, JCB and other credit cards issued outside Japan.
Lawson, Inc. is one of the largest convenience store chains in Japan with over 12,000 outlets in all 47 prefectures of Japan. With increasing foreign visitors to Japan, Lawson has improved its in-store free Wi-Fi service, such as much easier connection and multi-language acceptance. We also offer tax-refund services and more goods which are popular with foreign visitors at some Lawson stores. Lawson will take advantage of its store network and make active efforts to commit to better convenience and meet the needs of increasing foreign visitors.
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