What Digital Garage does

Digital Garage, Inc. (TSE: 4819) is a Tokyo-headquartered, publicly listed payment platform and digital solutions group founded in 1995. The company operates three reportable segments: Platform Solution (payment processing and marketing), Long-term Incubation (fintech service development), and Global Investment Incubation (startup investment). Through its wholly-owned subsidiary DG Financial Technology (DGFT), Digital Garage runs one of Japan's largest payment service provider networks, serving over 1 million online and offline merchant locations via the VeriTrans4G multi-payment gateway and the Cloud Pay unified QR code platform, which surpassed ¥1 trillion in transaction volume in June 2026.

The technology stack combines proprietary payment infrastructure with applied AI. VeriTrans4G supports credit cards, convenience store payments, bank transfers, e-money, QR payments, and international options; Cloud Pay aggregates PayPay, au PAY, Rakuten Pay, d Payment, and Merpay through a single merchant contract; AppPay provides out-of-app payment SDKs for mobile operators including MIXI's Monster Strike global store. AI capabilities include computer vision for license plate recognition in ticketless parking (patent No. 7303664), predictive analytics for amusement facility inventory management, and SQREEM-powered cognitive AI for the FT MediaString advertising orchestration platform launched in April 2026.

Digital Garage monetizes through transaction-based payment processing fees, BNPL subscriptions via SCORE Co., Ltd. (acquired 2024), advertising revenue from BI.Garage, and returns from venture investments via DG Ventures and the ¥13 billion DG Daiwa Ventures and DG Resona Ventures Fund I vehicles. The company is led by Representative Director, President and Group CEO Kaoru Hayashi, with Keizo Hayashi running DGFT and Akio Niizawa heading BI.Garage. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales with channel partnerships, most notably a capital and business alliance with Resona Holdings covering 500,000 corporate customers and a joint venture with au Financial Service for the NESTA next-generation payment platform.

Name

Digital Garage

Legal name

株式会社デジタルガレージ（Digital Garage, Inc.）

Website

https://www.garage.co.jp

Company type

Public

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Digital Garage (TSE: 4819) is a Japanese listed payment platform operating DGFT, which serves 1M+ merchants through VeriTrans4G and Cloud Pay, alongside BNPL (SCORE), advertising (BI.Garage), and venture investment businesses serving enterprises, SMEs, and financial institutions across Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing Infrastructure

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Sales Financing (52222), Credit Card Issuing (52221)

SIC

Short-Term Business Credit Institutions (6153), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

POS, SoftPOS & In-Person Acceptance Infrastructure (FSAGABAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Merchant-Integrated BNPL (Checkout POS Financing) (FSAGAIAA), B2B / Invoice-Based BNPL (Trade Credit at Checkout) (FSAGAIAC), B2B BNPL (Invoice Split/Net Terms for SMB Procurement) (FSAKACAJ)

Keywords

• Payment processing platform
• Fintech solutions
• QR code payments
• B2B card payments
• Startup incubation

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing Fees: Transaction fees from credit card processing, QR code payments, and convenience store payment processing through DGFT subsidiary. DGFT operates as payment service provider with over 1 million merchant locations across online and offline channels.
2. BNPL Services: Buy Now Pay Later subscription services through SCORE subsidiary, offering installment payment solutions to subscription e-commerce businesses
3. Marketing Solutions: Digital marketing and advertising solutions through BI.Garage subsidiary, including AI-powered advertising technology from SQREEM integration
4. Investment Returns: Returns from startup investment activities through DG Ventures and DG Daiwa Ventures joint venture

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Digital Garage operates one of Japan's largest payment platforms through its subsidiary DG Financial Technology (DGFT), providing multi-payment processing infrastructure for credit cards, QR codes, convenience store payments, and B2B invoice card payments across more than 1 million merchant locations. The company also offers AppPay (Japan's largest out-of-app payment platform), SCORE BNPL services, Cloud Pay QR code payments with AI-powered license plate recognition, Musubell real estate DX cloud service, BI.Garage marketing/advertising solutions, and startup investment/incubation through DG Ventures and DG Daiwa Ventures.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VeriTrans4G: Comprehensive payment platform supporting credit cards, convenience store payments, bank transfers, electronic money, QR code payments, and international payment options
• Cloud Pay
• AppPay
• DGFT Invoice Card Payment
• NESTA
• Open Network Lab (Onlab)
• BI.Garage
• DG Ventures
• DG Daiwa Ventures
• FT MediaString
• Musubell
• DG LAB HAUS
• SCORE
• SCORE Atokara Card

Products and services

• VeriTrans4G Comprehensive multi-payment processing gateway supporting credit cards, convenience store payments, paid prepaid, and Pay-easy transactions for e-commerce merchants across Japan. Designed for businesses needing unified payment processing with high security.
• Cloud Pay Unified QR code payment platform enabling merchants to accept multiple QR code payment brands (PayPay, au PAY, Rakuten Pay, Merpay, d payment) through a single contract. Powers payment solutions across parking lots, retail, and amusement facilities with AI-powered license plate recognition for smart parking.
• AppPay Japan's largest out-of-app payment platform providing payment SDK enabling app operators to accept in-app payments on DGFT's payment infrastructure. Enables direct transition from within an app to AppPay payment page while preserving user ID and purchase items, designed to comply with Japan's Mobile Software Competition Act.
• NESTA Payment Platform Next-generation payment platform jointly developed with au Financial Service Corporation, built on VeriTrans4G multi-payment service. Processes payments for KDDI Group companies, enabling secure multi-payment infrastructure with deployment across KDDI's mobile telecommunications and billing ecosystem.
• DGFT Invoice Card Payment B2B payment service enabling businesses to switch bank transfer payments to card payments, extending payment terms up to 60 days. Embedded in enterprise ERP systems (Works Applications) and corporate card solutions for B2B invoice management.
• SCORE Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) and postpaid shopping payment service for e-commerce and subscription-based businesses. Acquired by DGFT in 2024. Provides installment payment solutions to subscription e-commerce merchants and offers the SCORE Atokara Card hybrid BNPL-plus-credit-card service for subscription commerce.
• Musubell Real estate DX cloud service for contract procedures and property/customer management, designed to digitize analog processes in the real estate industry. Includes Musubell Smart Identity Verification for online digital identity verification for business use cases.
• FT MediaString AI orchestration-based advertising business combining proprietary fintech payment transaction data with quality media data from 33 leading Japanese media companies. Uses SQREEM's cognitive AI for latent audience analysis to enable brand-safe advertising distribution in the post-cookie era.
• Open Network Lab (Onlab) Japan's first startup accelerator program, having nurtured over 150 startups. Includes a web3 accelerator for blockchain and cryptocurrency innovations. Operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary providing incubation services and startup investment support.
• Cloud Pay Business Next-generation digital transformation solution integrating AI capabilities with the patented Cloud Pay QR code payment service. Includes AI-powered inventory management and sales management functions for amusement facilities and retail environments.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1 trillion JPY transaction volume processed through Cloud Pay platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration15 records

AI capability10 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Resona HoldingscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCapital and business alliance with Resona Holdings to distribute payment and fintech solutions to Resona's 500,000 corporate customers across Japan.
• KDDIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor shareholder (together with Digital Garage) in Kakaku.com tender offer, demonstrating strategic investment partnership in major transactions.
• au Financial ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint development of NESTA next-generation payment platform in collaboration with au Financial Service.
• Works ApplicationscoreTechnology or IntegrationERP partnership for B2B card payment services integration with Works Applications enterprise systems.
• Toshiba Tec CorporationcoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment terminal partnership for POS and payment hardware integration.
• JCBcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStablecoin payment pilot collaboration with JCB for next-generation payment solutions.
• Amano CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQR code payment solution for automated parking fee systems developed with Amano Corporation.
• HAYASHI TELEMPU CORPORATIONminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParking lot solution collaboration for automated payment systems.
• Yokoi Co., Ltd.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNice Ticket Park parking facilities implementing QR code payment solutions.
• KEISEI REAL ESTATEminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorParking lots implementing Cloud Pay QR code and AI license plate recognition payment solutions.
• TOKYU LIFIA CORPORATIONminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorParking facility payment solutions with QR code payments.
• AEON FantasycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorQR code payment implementation at amusement facilities across AEON Fantasy locations.
• Epos CardminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate card partnership for B2B payment solutions.
• Sumitomo Mitsui CardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEmbedded finance solution development for B2B payments collaboration.
• SCORE Co., Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBNPL business subsidiary providing buy-now-pay-later services for subscription e-commerce.
• DG Financial Technology (DGFT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPayment subsidiary operating payment service provider infrastructure with 1 million+ merchant locations.
• BI.GaragecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMarketing and advertising subsidiary providing digital marketing solutions and AI advertising technology.
• Enstem Co., Ltd.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSmart city initiative collaboration for urban technology solutions.
• Tokyu BusminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth management service trial collaboration for transportation industry innovation.
• Global Communication PlanningminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales agent partnership for Newland NPT payment terminals in Japan.
• OnlabcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerAccelerator program for startups including web3 accelerator for blockchain and cryptocurrency innovations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• SBI Holdings: Japanese financial services conglomerate with significant fintech, payments, and crypto exchange operations (SBI Sumishin Net Bank, SBI VC Trade). Comparable as a diversified Japanese fintech ecosystem operator with overlapping investment and payment activities.
• Stripe: Global payment processing incumbent serving Japanese enterprise merchants. Comparable to DGFT in providing developer-friendly payment APIs, multi-method support, and enterprise onboarding at scale.
• Block (Square): Global payments incumbent that has partnered with Digital Garage (Cloud Pay integration) while also competing in Japan's SMB payment market. Comparable as a multi-rail payment processor and fintech ecosystem operator.
• Ant Group (Alipay+): Asian payments and digital finance incumbent. Comparable as a multi-rail payment platform with embedded finance capabilities; represents a potential international expansion vector or competitor for Digital Garage's cross-border ambitions via DG Daiwa Ventures.

Direct peers

• Rakuten Pay: Major Japanese QR payment service operated by Rakuten Group, competing directly with Cloud Pay in the unified QR payment space. Also integrated into Cloud Pay as a payment brand, illustrating both partnership and competitive overlap.
• GMO Payment Gateway: Japan's leading online payment processor and a direct competitor to Digital Garage's VeriTrans4G and DGFT. Both serve e-commerce merchants with multi-payment processing, BNPL, and embedded finance solutions, and both are listed on TSE Prime.
• Paidy (PayPal subsidiary): Japan-originated BNPL provider now owned by PayPal. Directly comparable to Digital Garage's SCORE subsidiary in offering buy-now-pay-later solutions to Japanese e-commerce merchants, including subscription commerce use cases.
• SBPS (SoftBank Payment Service): Japanese payment service provider and subsidiary of SoftBank, offering online payment processing comparable to VeriTrans4G. Competes directly for enterprise e-commerce and retail payment processing contracts in Japan.
• LINE Pay (LY Corporation): Major Japanese mobile payment service integrated into the LINE messaging app ecosystem, competing with AppPay and Cloud Pay for in-app and QR payment volume among Japanese consumers and merchants.
• PayPay (Z Holdings / SoftBank Group): Japan's largest QR code payment service by GMV. PayPay is a direct competitor to Cloud Pay, integrated as one of the payment brands within DG's Cloud Pay unified platform, but competes head-to-head for merchant acceptance and consumer mindshare.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DigitalGarage
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@digitalgarage
• Facebookfacebook.com/DigitalGarage
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/digital-garage_3
• Instagraminstagram.com/digitalgarage_pr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments115 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Digital Garage