Mi&T, an IT services company spun out of Osaka Metropolitan University, announced on November 11 that it will begin offering its "Matane" payment app, which uses the yen-denominated stablecoin JPYC, at restaurants and retail stores around the university starting November 16. The demonstration uses a subsidy program from Osaka Prefecture and is scheduled to run through mid-March 2027.
Matane users read an NFC tag or QR code placed at the store counter with their smartphone, enter the amount, and approve payment from their own wallet. At present, the app supports JPYC on the Layer 1 blockchain Kaia, and network fees associated with payments are borne by the system side.
The cost to stores totals 1.0% of the transaction amount, broken down into a 0.5% infrastructure usage fee and 0.5% as the funding source for user rewards. Users automatically receive 0.5% of the transaction amount back. Stores can receive sales in JPYC into their own wallets at the same time as the payment, and through the issuance and redemption service "JPYC EX" provided by issuer JPYC, they can convert it to yen and receive it in a bank account after completing procedures such as identity verification and account registration. According to Mi&T, JPYC's redemption fee is waived for redemptions of 3,000 JPYC or more.
Matane is not limited to students; general users who install the app and hold the corresponding JPYC can also participate. Mi&T plans to provide in-person support from wallet setup through the first payment.
Ahead of the full-scale demonstration, Mi&T conducted a preliminary trial at mock stalls during the Ginkgo Festival, Osaka Metropolitan University's campus festival held from October 30 to November 1. With the cooperation of the Osaka Metropolitan University Symphony Orchestra, the company set up a signboard with an NFC tag on a mock stall table and confirmed that the series of operations—from holding up a smartphone to approving payment with Matane—worked without problems in an actual store environment.
The initiative is being carried out as a subsidized project under the "Osaka Prefecture Support Program Subsidy for the Formation of Pioneering Financial Markets," which Osaka Prefecture implements jointly with the city of Osaka. In August, Osaka Prefecture decided to award grants to four projects, including Mi&T's demonstration, with the amount awarded to the company set at ÂĄ1.25 million (approximately $7,800). Mi&T initially presented a plan to verify payment usage trends at about five restaurants and retail stores, and says it will gradually increase the number of participating stores.
Note: The launch date is November 16, 2026. The demonstration period is scheduled to run through mid-March 2027.
Stablecoins are crypto assets whose value is pegged to legal tender or other assets, aiming to suppress price fluctuations. In Japan, revisions to the Payment Services Act have positioned them as electronic payment instruments, and frameworks for issuance and circulation are being developed. The attempt by a university spinout to incorporate stablecoins into the payment network of local stores is drawing attention as a way to gauge usage trends at physical stores and stores' needs to convert funds into cash.
A distinctive feature of the demonstration is its design, in which the system side absorbs network fees at the time of payment and store costs are held to 1.0% of the transaction amount. Existing credit card payments can carry merchant fees of several percent, making this a potential option for reducing the burden on small stores. On the other hand, the procedures for converting JPYC into yen and the path for users to open a wallet will be key to widespread adoption. Mi&T is offering in-person support and intends to verify, through the demonstration, how well it acquires users and the operational burden on stores in receiving and converting funds.
Movements to position stablecoins as a payment method replacing local currencies and loyalty points are increasingly being linked to municipal subsidy programs. Among the four projects Osaka Prefecture selected to support the formation of pioneering financial markets, Mi&T's demonstration is notable for testing social implementation within a limited commercial area around a university. The results are expected to inform future institutional design and consideration of expanding the model to other regions.
