How Stripe Built Its Business in Japan Through Partnership

Stripe’s Japanese expansion combined a domestic financial partner’s capabilities with its own software platform. Sumitomo Mitsui Card supported card acceptance and became an investor and strategic partner, while Stripe developed the service for internet businesses. Their continuing relationship, including the planned Japanese rollout of Stripe Capital, illustrates how a partnership formed for entry can support later expansion.

Who was Stripe’s Japanese partner?

Sumitomo Mitsui Card is a major payments company within the SMBC financial group. It issues cards to consumers and businesses and supports merchants in accepting card payments. Its merchant-facing role was particularly relevant to Stripe: as an acquirer, it provided capabilities connecting merchants with the card payment system.

The relationship therefore had a practical foundation. Stripe could combine domestic card acceptance with its developer-focused payment platform. Sumitomo Mitsui Card could support online businesses through software designed for internet commerce, including marketplaces and companies selling internationally.

From discussions to a working service

The companies began discussing Japan in January 2014 and formed a capital and business alliance in March 2015. An invitation-only beta began that May. Full service followed on October 4, 2016, after approximately eighteen months in beta.

At launch, merchants could accept card payments in more than 130 currencies. The offering linked local payment capabilities with international selling opportunities.

In our analysis, the central decision was to make complementary capabilities part of the operating model. Each company contributed something relevant to a functioning customer proposition. The period between the alliance and full service also shows why implementation belongs in the market-entry plan alongside partner selection.

Expanding through JCB and local engineering

Stripe’s domestic relationships extended beyond its initial partner. In May 2018, it signed a memorandum of understanding with JCB, Japan’s international card brand, for a global partnership. Stripe merchants could reach JCB cardholders, while JCB could expand acceptance through Stripe’s international network.

In 2020, Stripe announced improvements to JCB onboarding and payouts. Merchants could begin accepting JCB payments in days rather than weeks, and receive payouts within days under the arrangements described by Stripe.

That year, Stripe also announced a Tokyo engineering office. In 2022, it expanded support for Japanese payment methods, including bank transfers and convenience-store payments covering more than 34,000 stores. These features addressed established workflows: matching bank transfers to invoices, handling refunds, and allowing customers to pay for online purchases with cash.

Partnership and local product development worked together. Financial relationships supported payment acceptance, while engineering made those capabilities usable within merchants’ daily operations.

A relationship that continued beyond entry

Stripe reported that its Japanese payment volume grew by more than 40 percent in 2024, while cross-border volume increased by more than 62 percent. More than 9,000 Japanese businesses sold subscriptions through Stripe Billing that year.

By September 2026, Stripe reported more than 150,000 businesses and solopreneurs using its platform in Japan, with 45,000 businesses newly adopting it in 2025.

The same announcement introduced plans for Stripe Capital in Japan in early 2027, supported by Sumitomo Mitsui Card. The original relationship was extending from payment acceptance toward business financing.

What this means for companies considering Japan

The partnership’s longevity offers a useful perspective on partner selection. A domestic partner should contribute a defined capability to a product customers can use. Both sides also need a commercial reason to invest in implementation and continued development.

Stripe’s growth cannot be attributed to one relationship alone. Its software, local engineering, additional partnerships, and customer adoption all form part of the story. What the public record shows is an alliance that supported entry and remained relevant to subsequent product expansion.

For overseas founders, the practical questions are specific: what does the product need locally, what can the partner provide, and who will deliver the remaining work? The next stage is to consider whether that relationship can develop as customer needs change.

The planned Stripe Capital rollout will provide another opportunity to observe how an established payment partnership extends into an adjacent service. The final episode of this series examines another route to expansion: PayPal’s acquisition of Paidy.

About Wakyodo

Wakyodo helps global digital asset firms understand Japan’s market, identify potential partners, and determine the right entry approach. If your company is evaluating a Japanese partnership, contact Wakyodo to discuss your plans.