This report explains the payment trends statistics for May 2025 published by the Bank of Japan.
Key Points
1. Payment Volume and Value Trends
- Zengin System payment volume: +8.2% YoY (daily average 6.42 million transactions)
- Payment value: +5.4% YoY (daily average 152.3 trillion yen)
- Large-value payments (BOJ-NET): Volume +3.1%, value +4.8%
- Five consecutive months of year-on-year increases in both volume and value
2. Trends by Payment Method
- Bank transfers: 72.3% share of transactions, +6.8% YoY
- Credit cards: 9.2 trillion yen in payments, +12.1% YoY
- Electronic money: 842 billion yen in payments, +18.4% YoY
- QR code payments: 1.2 trillion yen in payments, +42.3% YoY (highest growth rate)
3. Progress in Cashless Adoption
- Cashless payment ratio: 39.8% (up from 36.2% in the same period last year)
- Government target (40% by June 2025) within reach
- Retail cashless ratio: Rising to 52.3%
- Regional disparities: Tokyo 48.2%, lowest is Kochi Prefecture at 28.4%
The article evaluates that digitalization of payments is steadily progressing, contributing to more efficient economic activity.