Smartpay（スマートペイ）

About Smartpay

“Potentially the Best Fintech team in Japan right now”

- SMBCVC -

Over 100 years of experience in the Japanese fintech industry:
From Amazon Japan / Paidy / Stripe Japan / Mastercard Japan / Facebook / Rakuten / Paypal Japan / Yahoo Japan / AppsFlyer Japan

In Japan1st
We Are The First In Japan To Build The Full Ecosystem To Enable Digital One Click Financial Solution

  1. To get direct debit license for banks

    First fintech to gain the direct debit bank license enabling consumers to pay with cash in real time from their bank account.

  2. Digital financing service to sign 73 banks

    The signed banks cover over 90% of the banking population, making us the first national digital direct debit ecosystem.

  3. Digital financing service with credit card payments in Japan

    Completely free digital financing service offering 3 installments over 2 months.

  4. To have both Adyen and Stripe as processors in Japan

    Dual processing allows us stability and highest authorization rate in Japan.

  5. Have built most experienced Japanese Fintech Engineering and Sales team

    Cumulative 100 years of experience in Japan Fintech - Paidy (bought by Paypal for USD $3 Bn in 2021), Adyen, Stripe, Amazon, Facebook, Mastercard.

Our Mission

By answering the “wants”of consumers
We will be changing the standard of paying, shopping and consumer finance solutions.We do this by defining and delivering on what ‘want’ really means.

Smartpay is more than just a technology company; We are a company that understands the uncertainty and anxiety people face in the new world of digital commerce.

Eliminating interest, hidden fees, and the anxiety consumers feel about sharing their data. We aim to provide the smoothest user experience. For merchants, we deliver a system solution that focuses on growing their revenue.

For consumers, for businesses, for both. We build “smart solutions that are seamless to use”.

Smartpay Team

Executive Leadership

  • Sam Ahmedサミル・アハメド

    CEO Co Founder

    A global and APAC digital and Ecomm leader for 4 +$20B businesses.

    Harvard Business School Graduate

    Industry recognition: 2018 The Top 50 People in the APAC Digital Industry by Drum Magazine. 2018 Asia Pacific Top 50 Leaders - Campaign Magazine. 2017 Asia Pacific CMO of the Year.

    Facebook - Head of Payments and Fintech APAC and Japan

    Key initiatives for WhatsApp, Instagram Shopping, Mobile Commerce and Facebook marketplace.

    Standard Chartered - Global Head of Digital, Insights and Marketing; Retail and Wealth

    Mastercard - Senior Vice President Head of Marketing (Digital, consumer, sponsorships, insights) Asia Pacific and Japan
    
Built Digital & Ecommerce engine - consumer acquisition solution for merchants (HBS case study)

  • Naoya Otsubo大坪 直哉

    Managing Director & Chief Revenue Officer

    Naoya is a highly recognised and experienced digital and FinTech leader.

    Naoya has proven success for“launch to scale”companies and driving“sustained revenue growth”for large corporations

    Naoya leadership style and“people first”approach to both his team and customers drives Smartpays go to market culture.

    AppsFlyer - Japan Country Manager

    Built the team and the business from scratch and expanded the market share from 0 to 51% (Source: App Annie)

    Criteo - Director of Mid Market, APAC
    
Built the team from scratch in Japan, Korea and Australia, taking care of both the supply side and the demand side.

    Yahoo! Inc. (Overture) and Yahoo! Japan
    
Developed and led multiple teams including Online Sales, Key Accounts and Global Sales.

  • Erica Kitamura北村 恵里花

    Chief Design Officer & Chief Experience Officer

    From seed to growth stage, Erica has extensive hands-on experience with Startups to multinationals building brands and innovation strategies from the ground up. She’s an expert in Service Design, UIUX, Design Thinking, Branding, and Business Strategy with over 12 years of experience.

    Reaktor - Lead Product Designer (Tokyo)

    Led the UIUX strategy, brand design and Design Thinking. Strategized and executed future innovation for a Japanese Asset Management Company.

    Paidy - UIUX/Service Designer (Tokyo)

    Founding member of the Design team at Paidy. Led the brand development, user research, UIUX, and creative strategy. Collaborated closely with partners in the finance industry for future innovation.

    Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Graphic Design

    Virginia Commonwealth University, School of the Arts

  • Linmic Linリンミック・リン

    Chief Technology Officer

    Linmic, an expert software engineer, specializes in cloud services, e-commerce, and FinTech. With 14 years of experience, Linmic excels in project leadership, team development, and outstanding results.

    At Paidy, Linmic improved the core Checkout product, increasing conversion rates by 8.9%. His achievements earned him a speaking role at the prestigious UXDX conference.

    Paidy - Head of Front-end & Mobile Engineering

    Linmic established the UX Engineering team, managing consumer and merchant web and mobile services for enhanced experiences. By facilitating partnerships with Amazon and Apple, Linmic played a crucial role in securing PayPal's acquisition of the company and achieving unicorn status in Japan.

    HTC - Principle Engineer

    As the youngest principal engineer in HTC's connected service department, Linmic developed essential services for mobile and VR businesses, including VIVEPORT. He optimized software solutions, enhancing user experiences and boosting engagement and satisfaction.

    Rakuten - Senior Engineer

    At Rakuten, Linmic developed standardized UI components, improving user experiences and operational efficiencies. He also launched a performance improvement initiative, which has become integral to Rakuten's quality assurance policies.

  • Takako Sakamoto坂本 貴子

    Finance Manager

    Takako has over 20 years of experience in accounting, finance, and tax affairs at the Japanese subsidiaries of foreign companies. She has experience in accounting processing in JGAAP, USGAAP, and IFRS. Takako has participated in various internal projects such as workflow establishment and system implementation at start-up companies. She has a wide range of experience, including providing materials to investors.

    BERKENSTOCK - FP&A Manager

    Responsible for all financial area, tax, treasury, budgeting, audit.
    Support HQ IPO project from local side.

    Paidy - Finance Manager

    Lead insourcing accounting process, to provide IR information on time and accurate.
    Involved in IPO project.
    Deal with audits.

  • Charles Greenチャールズ・グリーン

    Chief Information Security Officer

    Charles specializes in Information Security for FinTech, and financial services companies.

    SimplyCubed - Founder & CEO

    Providing cybersecurity advisory and security assessments for the Big 4 Consulting firms, FinTech, and SaaS companies in the United States and Japan.

    Paidy - CISO

    Established a strong security team and lead Paidy through the Amazon due diligence to become the first BNPL payments provider in Japan.

    Deloitte Digital Japan - Head of Engineering

    Lead engineering teams and digital transformation for cryptocurrency and fortune 500 global companies.

Smartpay Team

Cross Functional

  • Daisuke Murakami村上 大介

    Head of Customer Success

    Booking.com - Senior Account Manager
    Cathay Pacific Airways - Senior Customer Service Agent

  • Satoru Asama浅間 聡

    Head of Partnerships and BD

    Boku - Senior Director of Business Development
    PayPal - Head of Relationship Management

  • Daniel Perujoダニエル・ペルホ

    Head of Product Design

    Zypsy - Design Lead
    IDEO - Senior Interaction Designer (Tokyo)

  • Shota Miura三浦 祥太

    Sales Executive

    Pace Enterprise Japan - Business Development Manager
    Rakuten - Rakuten Pay Department Assistant Manager

  • Okino Yuji沖野 雄司

    Head of Regulatory and Legal

    • PayPal Pte. Ltd. - Senior Compliance Officer

    • Goldman Sachs (Japan) Ltd. - Vice President and Manager, Global Equity Operations

Company profile

Company

Smartpay K.K.

Established

June 30, 2021

CEO

Sam Ahmed

Business Type

Digital Payments and Digital Consumer Finance

Our Office

Kazama Building 6F, 2-19-5 Nishishinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0003