“Can a BNPL built on bank-rail direct debit (instead of cards) become Japan's default consumer pay-later platform?”
Smartpay is a Japan-based BNPL provider founded by ex-Paidy, Stripe, Adyen, Amazon, and Mastercard executives, backed by SMBC Venture Capital. It differentiates from other BNPL players by building Japan's first digital financing service connected to BankPay (JEPPO), enabling real-time bank direct payments across 200+ financial institutions in addition to credit card BNPL. In 2025 it expanded beyond pure payments into embedded insurance with Chubb, signaling a move from pay-later product into a broader consumer fintech platform.
Smartpay's lending and capital products are provided by Smartpay (in-house).
Smartpay connects to bank accounts through BankPay (JEPPO).
Smartpay integrates with Shopify, Magento, Salesforce Commerce Cloud and EC-Cube.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in Smartpay's stack: Payments / PSP (Adyen and Stripe); Lending (Smartpay (in-house), Smartpay BNPL (3 interest-free installments) and Smartpay Bank Direct (real-time bank account debit pay-later)); Open banking (BankPay (JEPPO)); Accounting (Shopify, Magento, Salesforce Commerce Cloud and EC-Cube).
Smartpay was founded by Sam Ahmed (Sam Pemberton-Ahmed) and is headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Smartpay and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.