What Kyash does

Kyash Inc (株式会社Kyash) is a Tokyo-based Japanese fintech founded in 2015 that operates a mobile-first digital wallet built around a Visa prepaid card product. The platform issues both a free instant virtual card (Kyash Card Virtual, issued within ~1 minute post-signup without credit checks) and a physical prepaid card (900 yen issuance fee) accepted at Visa's global merchant network of 100M+ locations. Core technology includes real-time transaction processing, eKYC identity verification via My Number Card IC chip and photo-based flows, multi-channel funding from bank accounts (16+ Japanese banks integrated fee-free), ATMs (Seven Bank, Lawson Bank), convenience stores, and credit/debit cards, plus integrations with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and QUICPay.

The product portfolio spans consumer wallet, group finance (共有口座/Shared Account supporting up to 100 participants), BNPL (イマすぐ入金, ¥3,000–50,000 with fixed fees of ¥500–1,800), and revolving credit (Spot Money, ¥1–1M, 3.0–18.0% APR, with GeNiE as the licensed lender). A separate B2B remittance service (法人送金サービス) enables corporate payouts, exceeding 1.3 million transactions and ¥20 billion in cumulative volume as of October 2025. Kyash also operates rewards and PFM features including 0.5% Kyash Points cashback, automatic transaction categorization, real-time notifications, and budget controls.

The go-to-market is product-led growth via app store distribution, with viral mechanics driven by free peer-to-peer transfers and shared account features. Revenue is generated primarily through Visa interchange on consumer card transactions, supplemented by card issuance fees, BNPL transaction fees, lending-related income, ATM withdrawal fees (¥220), and B2B remittance take rates. The customer base is dominated by individual Japanese consumers, with a secondary SMB/enterprise segment for corporate payouts. Regulatory licenses held include Prepaid Payment Instrument Issuer (Third-Party Type, Kanto Finance Bureau #00698), Funds Transfer Service Provider (Kanto Finance Bureau #00082), PCI DSS, TRUSTe, and ISMAP certifications. Kyash is a venture-backed private company with $117M+ raised across six rounds, most recently a Series D of ¥4.9 billion (~$44.7M) led by Block in March 2022.

Name

Kyash

Legal name

株式会社Kyash

Website

https://kyash.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Kyash is a Tokyo-based Japanese fintech founded in 2015 that operates a mobile-first Visa prepaid wallet for Japanese consumers, offering free instant virtual cards, peer-to-peer transfers, BNPL, lending, shared accounts, and a B2B corporate remittance service.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Wallet & Mobile Payments

NAICS

Sales Financing (52222)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Wallet Platforms (Consumer & Merchant) (BPAMAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

In-App / Online Checkout Wallets (FSAMAEAH), BNPL Consumer Apps & Wallets (Discovery, Management) (FSAGAIAG), Merchant & Payment Facilitator (PayFac) Underwriting / KYB (FSAMAMAJ), Onboarding, KYC & Account Verification Support (BPAAABAG)

Keywords

• Mobile payments platform
• Prepaid visa cards
• Digital wallet services
• Buy now pay later
• Peer-to-peer transfers

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Card Interchange and Transaction Fees: Kyash earns interchange fees from Visa on every transaction made with Kyash cards. As a prepaid card issuer, transaction volume drives primary revenue.
2. Card Issuance and Reissue Fees: Kyash Card physical card issuance costs 900 yen. Virtual cards are free. Card reissue (expiry, loss, upgrade) also costs 900 yen.
3. Spot Money Lending Interest: Consumer lending product (Spot Money) charges borrowing interest rates of 3.0-18.0% annual rate (実質年率) on loans of 10,000-800,000 yen. Lender is GeNiE株式会社.
4. イマすぐ入金 (BNPL) Fees: Buy Now Pay Later service charges fixed fees ranging from 500 yen (3,000-10,000 yen) to 1,800 yen (41,000-50,000 yen) per transaction.
5. ATM Withdrawal Fees: 220 yen withdrawal fee per transaction at Seven Bank and Lawson Bank ATMs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Kyash operates a Japanese mobile wallet app that issues free virtual and physical Visa prepaid cards for online and in-store payments, supporting Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. The platform also offers Buy Now Pay Later (イマすぐ入金), a consumer lending product (Spot Money / スポットマネージェャー), and a separate B2B corporate remittance service (法人送金サービス). Real-time transaction tracking, automatic categorization, shared multi-user wallets, and free peer-to-peer transfers are integrated into the same app.

Product overview

Kyash is a digital wallet platform built around a Visa prepaid card ecosystem, offering both virtual (Kyash Card Virtual) and physical (Kyash Card) card products. The core offering combines instant issuance, multi-method loading (bank account, ATM, convenience store, credit/debit card), and real-time spending tracking with PFM features. The product portfolio includes two credit/lending add-ons: イマすぐ入金 (a BNPL service with 3,000-50,000 yen instant deposits) and スポットマネージャー (a revolving credit service by GeNiE). A shared account feature enables group expense management for families and friends, while Kyashリワード and Kyashポイントパーク provide loyalty rewards. For business users, the 法人送金サービス offers B2B remittance and payout automation. The platform integrates with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, QUICPay, and Visa's contactless infrastructure, plus compatibility with Japanese accounting apps (moneyforward me, zaim, Moneytree).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• スポットマネージャー (Spot Money): A lending service that allows users to borrow from 1 yen upwards, with borrowing limits of 1-8 million yen and interest rates of 3.0-18.0% per annum. Provided by GeNiE株式会社 as the lender.

Products and services

• Kyash Card (Physical Visa Prepaid Card) Physical Visa prepaid card enabling in-store and online payments at Visa merchants worldwide. Earns 0.5% Kyash Points on transactions. Targeted at Japanese consumers who want a tangible card with contactless Visa support.
• Kyash Card Virtual Free virtual Visa prepaid card issued instantly in the Kyash app for online shopping and mobile contactless payments via Apple Pay and Google Pay. Targeted at any Japanese consumer, including those without credit history.
• イマすぐ入金 (BNPL / Ima Sugu Nyuukin) Buy Now Pay Later service that instantly deposits 3,000-50,000 yen into the user's Kyash balance, with repayment due at the end of the following month and fixed fees tiered by amount. Targeted at Japanese consumers wanting short-term, small-ticket credit without full card credit commitment.
• スポットマネージェャー (Spot Money) Revolving consumer lending product offered via GeNiE Co., Ltd. (Kyash acts as agent) that lends from 1 yen up to 1 million yen into the user's Kyash account, with 3.0-18.0% annual interest and repayment over up to 13 years 9 months. Targeted at Japanese consumers needing quick, small-ticket credit.
• 法人送金サービス (Corporate Money Transfer / Business Remittance Service) Dedicated B2B money transfer service enabling Japanese businesses to send bulk payouts to employees, contractors, and vendors for payroll, expense reimbursements, vendor payments, and automated reward/refund disbursements. As of October 2025, processed over 1.3 million transactions totaling 20 billion yen.

Quantifiable outcome

• Corporate transfer service reached 1.3 million transactions and 20 billion yen in volume (as of October 2025)

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ロイヤリティラボ (Royalty Lab)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 March 2026Kyash entered into a business partnership agreement (業務提携契約) with Royalty Lab on March 12, 2026, to provide solutions in corporate money transfer and settlement domains, enabling automation of reward payments and refunds.
• GeNiE株式会社coreTechnology or IntegrationGeNiE株式会社 is the lender for Kyash Spot Money (スポットマネージャー) consumer lending product. Registered number: 東京都知事 (1) 第31922号. Japan Consumer Finance Association member #006253. Kyash acts as the agent (代理店) for Spot Money, located at 東京都港区北青山1-2-3 青山ビル12F.
• VisacoreTechnology or IntegrationKyash issues Visa-branded prepaid cards (physical and virtual) that work at Visa's global merchant network of 100M+ locations. Supports Visa payWave, Visa touch payments, and 3D Secure.
• Seven Bank, Lawson BankminorOthersKyash users can deposit and withdraw cash at Seven Bank ATMs and Lawson Bank ATMs across Japan, with 220 yen withdrawal fee per transaction.
• Major Japanese Banks (MUFG, SMBC, Mizuho, Yucho, Rakuten, etc.)coreTechnology or IntegrationKyash integrates with 16+ major Japanese banks for instant account-to-account transfers: 三菱UFJ銀行, 三井住友銀行, みずほ銀行, ゆうちょ銀行, 楽天銀行, PayPay銀行, 住信SBIネット銀行, ソニー銀行, りそな銀行, 埼玉りそな銀行, 横浜銀行, 福岡銀行, 関西みらい銀行, 十八親和銀行, 熊本銀行, 群馬銀行, 百五銀行. Bank deposits are fee-free.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• PayPay (Z Holdings / SoftBank): Japan's dominant mobile payment wallet with 100M+ registered users, backed by SoftBank and Yahoo Japan (Z Holdings). Directly competes with Kyash in consumer QR/barcode payments, prepaid balances, and merchant acceptance, but operates at much larger scale with super-app integration.
• LINE Pay (LY Corporation): Mobile wallet integrated into the LINE messaging super-app with tens of millions of users in Japan. Comparable as a consumer-focused prepaid/credit wallet with P2P transfer and merchant payment functionality, bundled with the broader LINE ecosystem.
• Rakuten Pay: Mobile payment wallet within the Rakuten ecosystem (Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Bank, Rakuten Card). Competes directly with Kyash on QR payments, prepaid balances, and loyalty point integration, with cross-promotion from Rakuten's broader commerce platform.
• d Barai (NTT Docomo): Docomo's mobile payment service offering QR/barcode payments and prepaid functionality tied to the d Point loyalty program. Directly competes with Kyash for Japanese consumer wallet share, leveraging Docomo's telecom subscriber base.
• au PAY (KDDI): KDDI's mobile payment wallet serving the au telecom subscriber base with QR payments, prepaid balances, and Ponta point integration. Comparable to Kyash as a Japan-domestic consumer wallet competitor with telecom-bundled distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Cash App (Block, Inc.): US-based mobile wallet and prepaid debit card offering P2P transfers, stock/bitcoin investing, and BNPL-like features. Comparable as a mobile-first consumer wallet with prepaid Visa card and P2P mechanics — notably Block led Kyash's Series D round, making it both a peer and investor.
• Revolut: Global digital banking and wallet app offering prepaid cards, multi-currency accounts, P2P transfers, and lending. Comparable as a multi-product mobile fintech spanning consumer wallet, BNPL/lending, and shared accounts, though at significantly larger global scale than Kyash.

Regional players

• Toss (Viva Republica): South Korea's leading mobile super-app offering P2P transfers, prepaid functionality, lending, and investment products. Comparable to Kyash as a mobile-first consumer wallet that expanded from payments into credit and investment products, though operating exclusively in the Korean market.

Emerging players

• Merpay (Mercari): Mobile payment service within the Mercari C2C marketplace offering prepaid balances, monthly installments, and BNPL. Comparable as a Japanese consumer prepaid wallet tied to a broader commerce platform, though primarily focused on serving Mercari marketplace transactions.
• Origami Pay: Japanese mobile payment platform offering QR payments and merchant-focused solutions. Comparable as a Japan-domestic digital wallet competitor, though more merchant-centric than Kyash's consumer-prepaid focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kyashjp
• Facebookfacebook.com/kyashjp
• Instagraminstagram.com/kyash_official
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kyash-inc-

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors22 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kyash