Japanese airline turns to mobile payments to boost revenues during Covid-19

Tail of All Nippon Airways aircraft
CASHLESS: ANA is introducing a QR code-enabled mobile payments service for frequent flyers

Frequent flyers with All Nippon Airways (ANA) will soon be able to make in-store purchases and accumulate air miles by using a QR code-enabled mobile payments service that the Japanese airline is to launch “amid shrinking travel demand due to the coronavirus outbreak,” Japan Today reports.

“ANA will join a growing number of companies in Japan entering cashless payment services via smartphones,” the publication states, citing “sources close to the matter”.

“Teaming up with major Japanese credit card issuer JCB Co, the airline hopes its ANA Pay, using a QR code system, will make it easier for customers to make purchases at drugstores, supermarkets and other shops,” the report adds.

“The mobile payment platform will use JCB’s unique QR code standard, the sources said.

“If customers top up with a compatible JCB card and make a payment, they will receive 6 to 16 miles per 1,000 yen.

“With the prolonged virus spread continuing to weigh on its earnings, ANA has been trying to find ways to make profits utilising data of its frequent flyer members.”

The airline is due to launch its mobile payments service “by the end of the year”.

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