Konbini, Japanese for both “convenience store” and “a type of payment made at a convenience store,” allows Japanese shoppers to pay for online purchases – such as a video download or ecommerce purchase – at physical stores. This allows them to pay in cash, or to avoid entering their banking information into websites they don’t trust.

When making online purchases in this way, customers select Konbini as their payment method at the online checkout. They then receive a time-limited transaction code, which they take to a physical store to complete their transaction.

For merchants with an electronic terminal, Konbini also allows customers to make contactless payments by scanning a QR code at the terminal with their phone. Once scanned, the QR code automatically sends data from the consumer's phone to the merchant's system so they can process the payment transaction immediately.