PayPay Aims to Raise $1.1 Billion in US IPO

That’s according to a report Tuesday (March 3) from Bloomberg News, which says it would be the largest ever initial public offering (IPO) by a Japanese company on a U.S. stock exchange.

The company, working with an affiliate of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank — PayPay’s majority owner — is targeting a valuation of $13.4 billion, the report added. That figure is below the $20 billion investors had been aiming for last year.

PayPay has postponed its IPO roadshow due to uncertainty surrounding the U.S. conflict with Iran, Bloomberg said, citing a source familiar with the matter. The IPO is expected to price on March 11, according to terms of the deal reviewed by the news outlet.

PayPay filed for its IPO last month, saying it plans to continue expanding its digital finance platform’s capabilities. As PYMNTS reported at the time, the listing will test investor enthusiasm for super apps.

The company’s platform includes payments, banking, investments and “daily life” features like access to online shopping and food delivery services. Among its payment capabilities are offline code-based payment, peer-to-peer money transfer, bill payment and online payments.

On the merchant side of things, PayPay offers code-based payment in store, payment terminals, merchant financing and marketing solutions.

“We are a technology-driven platformer dedicated to transforming society for the better,” CEO Ichiro Nakayama said in a securities filing.

“Today, our focus is on payments and financial services, where we are unlocking the convenience of the digital wallet. Tomorrow, we look toward developing a robust mobile payments user base as we pursue our evolution into a digital finance platform.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote recently about the threat super apps face from AI “super agents.”

For super apps, she argued, discovery is guided by the platform’s priorities, pricing transparency is limited, and the cost of switching is high. An AI agent, on the other hand, is there to search widely, offer honest comparisons and execute efficiently on behalf of the user. And it’s all directed by customer preferences and constraints, rather than a platform’s business model.

“That makes the Super Agent the new front door,” Webster wrote. “Consumers tell the agent what they want. The agent interprets the request, searches across merchants and services, evaluates tradeoffs and assembles the outcome. Smart Agents don’t need to own the ecosystem; they just need access to all of them.”