en.Wedoany.com Reported - au Financial Services (auフィナンシャルサービス) and au Payment (auペイメント), payment businesses under the KDDI Group, officially merged on July 1 to launch operations as the new au Financial Services (新生auフィナンシャルサービス). At a press conference held on June 30, the day before the merger, Atsushi Nagano, President of the new au Financial Services, explained the background of the merger and future strategies.

Nagano stated that the two companies will become one starting tomorrow, launching as the new au Financial Services. The background of the merger lies in the rapid penetration of artificial intelligence (AI) and a shift in the cashless market phase. The KDDI Group as a whole believes that values that are not easily replaced or disrupted by AI will be key to future differentiation. Data released by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry shows that the cashless payment ratio reached 58% in 2025, with the market transitioning from a diffusion phase to a more penetration-focused stage.

Nagano pointed out that in the upcoming penetration phase, it is crucial to leverage the group's assets to create better experiential value for customers and merchants. The primary goal of this merger is to achieve unified payment business strategy and accelerate business execution, aiming to speed up decision-making and respond to market changes.

As cashless payments become more widespread, consumers face complexity in using multiple payment services depending on the store. For merchants, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and sole proprietors, there is a problem of not fully realizing operational efficiency improvements and value that exceed the cost of adoption.

Nagano stated that to make consumers and business owners truly feel the benefits of cashless adoption, the company will transform the experience. The new au Financial Services has proposed "REWIRE" (リワイヤー) as a future strategic concept, meaning "to reconnect," aiming to rebuild the three layers of relationships: "users," "merchants," and "life."

The company aims to restructure the smartphone app "au PAY" into a wallet that starts from the user and reconnects experiences by fiscal year 2027, providing personalized optimization suggestions and support through a dedicated AI agent to enhance experiential value. Nagano explained that there will be a wallet managing each user's payment methods and assets, which will interact directly with the customer or their personal AI agent, serving as the entry point for experiences.

To help SMEs and sole proprietors solve problems, the company will expand the deployment of the next-generation payment platform "NESTA." The goal is to release "NESTA Mobile" (tentative name) by spring 2027, enabling everyday smartphones to directly function as payment terminals. In addition to supporting cashless payments, services will be expanded to address business challenges such as cash flow management, customer acquisition, and business digitalization.

The company aims to go beyond the framework of payment transactions, seamlessly connecting all aspects of daily life. By collaborating with various partner companies, it will support a series of experiences before and after payment, including "search," "compare," "use," and "share."

Nagano expressed hope to go beyond the financial framework, reconnecting experiences in the world through co-creation with various partners.

As a new measure, the au PAY auto-recharge benefit, previously available only to au PAY Gold Card members, will be expanded to include the annual fee-free "au PAY Card" members. Starting July 1, 2026, users can instantly issue an au PAY Card from the au PAY app. Through these measures, the company aims to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of double-digit growth in sales and operating profit by 2030.

At the press conference on June 30, recent specific measures were introduced, including the expansion of au PAY auto-recharge benefit coverage and the instant issuance of au PAY Cards. Additionally, medium- to long-term business strategies were presented, such as restructuring the wallet app by 2027 and deploying the NESTA payment platform for SMEs. During the Q&A session, when asked about detailed specifications of new features and further initiatives in the financial business, Nagano responded that they are "under discussion," covering topics such as detailed specifications of the AI agent function, strategies for non-au or UQ mobile users, integration with "Ponta Pass," mechanisms for direct payment via au PAY from credit cards, and cards higher than the Gold Card tier.