Japan's PayPay to Update App After Wrongful Charge Complaints

(Bloomberg) -- PayPay, a mobile payments company backed by SoftBank Group Corp., Yahoo Japan Corp. and India’s largest digital-payments company Paytm, said it’s updating its app to strengthen security after multiple complaints from users of wrongful charges.

An unspecified number of customers called in and e-mailed to report charges on their bills that they didn’t recognize, according to PayPay spokesman Fumihiro Ito. Several consumers say they hadn’t even installed the app but their credit cards were billed for purchases they didn’t make. PayPay will make changes to the app as early as Monday and has recommended users contact their credit card providers directly about suspicious activity, Ito said.

PayPay triggered a shopping frenzy earlier this month by promising to give users 10 billion yen ($88 million) in rebates from their purchases. The campaign offered 20 percent refunds at select retailers, while SoftBank subscribers got another 1-in-10 chance to receive the whole purchase price back. Discounts were capped at 100,000 yen per transaction. PayPay had planned to run the campaign until March 31, but disbursed all of the funds after only 10 days.

The company has faced questions about its security practices. The app gives users an unlimited number of times to enter credit card information without locking them out after mistakes. PayPay says it will address that issue in an update as soon as Monday.

To contact the reporters on this story: Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo at thyuga@bloomberg.net;Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Robert Fenner at rfenner@bloomberg.net, Peter Elstrom

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