Why Did Small-Value Card Payments Become Possible in E-Commerce?

The Case of Nippon Shinpan

Abstract

Around the year 2000 in Japan, it was said that small-value e-commerce transactions weren’t profitable due to credit card processing fees. For digital goods in particular, it was even suggested that offering them for free was preferable. Consequently, various electronic payment methods were devised and implemented. Amidst this, Nippon Shinpan developed its EC Total Payment Solution, a system thoroughly engineered to be superior for users both technically and economically. They aggressively promoted sales while dramatically reducing the system usage fees for card payments based on field sales judgment. As a result, “EC Card”—meaning credit card payments on the internet—survived and became viable even for small-value e-commerce transactions.