Fintech

Standardized specifications for QR codes used in cashless payments could be put into practice as early as this summer.

Chat app operator Line and online secondhand marketplace Mercari have joined forces, the two companies said Wednesday, in the latest twist in the battle for dominance in Japan's cashless payment service.

A year after cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck suffered the worst hacking incident in the history of the industry, its founder, Koichiro Wada, attended a news conference to reassure the public that the startup had learned from the experience. But the 28-year-old engineer wasn't the one doing the talking.

The thawing relationship between Japan and China is creating new investment opportunities, particularly in startup-related areas that have been overlooked by traditional lenders, said veteran Hong Kong investor Victor Chu at a conference in Tokyo Tuesday.

Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash is still king.

Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to capture the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.