CU to accept Japan's Ponta Points for payments

South Korea's BGF Retail, the operator of the leading domestic convenience store chain CU, announced on Sunday that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Loyalty Marketing, Japan's Ponta Points operator, to adopt Ponta Points as a payment method.

BGF Retail aims to enhance shopping and tourism convenience for foreign consumers.

Ponta Points is a prominent membership service that can be accumulated and used at over 300,000 locations, including the well-known Japanese convenience store Lawson.

It boasts over 100 million members and is utilized in the US (Hawaii), Taiwan, and Vietnam.

BGF Retail plans to implement a payment system that allows Ponta Points to be used at approximately 18,000 CU stores nationwide. Additionally, members of CU's app Pocket CU will be able to earn and use Ponta Points in Japan.

The company is also considering a partnership points conversion service to exchange CU Points with Ponta Points.

The adoption of this service comes as CU sees an increasing number of foreign customers. From January to June this year, CU's foreign payment transactions increased by 150% year over year. 

Write to Hyun-jin Ra at raraland@hankyung.com