Japan's PayPay App Eyes Nasdaq in $19.6bn IPO in March

PayPay is a QR code payment app in Japan. It has 70 million users and a 70% market share (mobile payments) in Japan, according to Nikkei. Quote from Japan Times about the IPO >Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Mizuho Securities USA and Morgan Stanley are joint book-running managers for the proposed offering. The company said that shares will also be offered in Japan as part of the proposed IPO, and that it filed related statements with the local authorities in Japan on Friday. After the listing, PayPay will remain a subsidiary of SoftBank Group. It does not expect any material effect from the listing on its financial results, the parent company added. The company also announced yesterday that they will be partnering with Visa. The press release stated that they will explore a potential rollout of a digital wallet in the US that supports NFC & QR code payments. They said that they will work with Visa to expand the card payment acceptance at PayPay merchants in Japan. For tourists visiting Japan, here is what they had to say >the companies will work to create an environment that allows seamless payments at PayPay merchants using familiar payment methods from their home countries References: Nikkei link about the IPO (might have paywall) `https://asia.nikkei.com/business/markets/ipo/japan-s-paypay-app-eyes-nasdaq-in-19.6bn-ipo-in-march` Japan Times link about the IPO `https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/02/13/companies/paypay-going-public/` Nikkei article on PayPay's market share (*article is in Japanese*) `https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUC1563K0V10C25A7000000/` PayPay Press Release regarding Partnership with Visa `https://about.paypay.ne.jp/en/pr/20260212/01/`