Mitsui & Co., Ltd. has invested 150 million yen (US$1.35 million) in CyberCash K.K., a joint venture between CyberCash, Inc., Softbank Group, Omron Corp., Orix Corp. and several leading financial institutions.
Mitsui, a gigantic global trading company, has been actively moving into the Internet scene which includes AOL Japan and the Curio-City Internet shopping portal.
CyberCash K.K. offers the real-time credit card payment services developed by CyberCash, a leading e-commerce services firm, to Japanese e-commerce merchants and online malls.
These include such retail chains like Daiei Inc. and Parco Company Ltd., prominent publishers and distributors such as bookstore chain Asahiya Shoten, technical publisher Shoeisha, financial publisher Toyo Keizai, and investment information provider Morningstar, manufacturers such as Ricoh, entertainment sites such as TK Gateway, Air Link, MacWorld Expo, and broadcaster Fuji Television.
A network of Japanese e-commerce vendors has also allied with CyberCash K.K. to support online merchants. These include Dai-Nippon Printing (the operator of the Media Galaxy shopping portal), merchant call center provider Bellsystem24, Sumisho Computer Systems Corp., and sophisticated electronic commerce merchant developers such as Ecoss, Bunka Orient, and Linkmanage.
Mitsui and CyberCash K.K. are searching for ways to leverage each company’s unique capabilities to strengthen their electronic commerce offerings and increase market distribution.