In this edition of our Professional Series, which delves into the lives of the extraordinary professionals working in the PayPay group, we spoke with Sano from the Digital Salary Payments Team about his efforts in facilitating the implementation of the digital salary payment service PayPay Paycheck for the childcare leave support program “Childcare Leave Supporter Grant (Japanese page only)” announced by Hokkaido Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Hokkaido Coca-Cola), including the journey and new possibilities digital salary payments has to offer.
Kosuke Sano
Digital Payroll Team, Finance Platform Development Department, Finance Business Strategy Division, Finance Business Group
After graduating from university, he first joined a regional bank and worked in corporate sales. Subsequently shifting his career to a human resources agency and experiencing recruitment support and later engaging in planning and sales for a B2B credit product in a payment agency business, he joined PayPay in August 2023. Currently, he is responsible for planning and executing strategies to grow PayPay’s presence in the digital salary payments market, contributing to the business achieving its targeted number of companies to be onboarded.
Leveraging Financial Expertise to Communicate the Benefits of Digital Salary Payments
Please tell us about your career so far.
After graduating from university, I worked in corporate sales at a regional bank. Later, wanting to build experience with a range of different companies, I served as a recruitment agent for new graduates at a different company. Feeling I had become sufficient as a salesperson, I transitioned to a planning role in a payment agency business, to leverage my knowledge from my banking days. I worked on planning a new B2B credit product which included presentations to customers at banks, among other activities. The experience I gained on banking and payments, as well as communicating information to external parties is put to good use now at PayPay, as one of my duties is to run seminars to promote the adoption of digital salary payments.
Why did you decide to transfer to PayPay?
There were several reasons, but the deciding factor was PayPay’s “overwhelming speed.” In fact, I’d applied for other jobs as well with my top choice being a different company, but I heard back from PayPay first even though it was the last interview I had, which suited my preference for speed. Things are no different after joining; the speed of decision-making here is remarkable.
What are your current duties and mission?
My main role is to handle negotiations with external companies as the market expansion strategy manager for PayPay Paycheck, our digital salary payment service launched in August 2024. Specifically, I design strategies to acquire leads, respond to inquiries, and engage in business negotiations with various companies to drive adoption of digital salary payments.
Introducing PayPay Paycheck to Demonstrate Leadership in Cashless Initiatives
Can you showcase an example of PayPay Paycheck being introduced?
From January 2025, Hokkaido Coca-Cola introduced PayPay Paycheck as an alternative to bank account transfers to receive payments through their “Childcare Leave Supporter Grant” program. The program is provided to employees who support the work of others taking childcare leave, aimed at reducing psychological burdens for those taking leave, enhancing the motivation of supporting employees, and fostering a workplace environment conducive to taking childcare leave.
What were Hokkaido Coca-Cola’s needs that led to using PayPay Paycheck?
The company wanted to increase options for employees to receive the supporter’s grant, and enabling a choice between bank transfer or PayPay Paycheck meant addressing the diverse needs of employees. This was also against the backdrop of a high affinity in driving cashless initiatives given PayPay’s integration with Coca-Cola’s official app Coke ON.
Can you share more about the journey leading to the implementation?
Things span into motion in December 2024, after we received an inquiry from Hokkaido Coca-Cola. They wanted PayPay Paycheck to be available as of January 2025, when their supporter’s grant program was scheduled to begin, so the project needed all the speed that could be mustered.
We aligned with the public relations team and management within three days of the initial meeting and confirmed the policy for handling wages other than standard monthly salaries. Dense communication was maintained with my counterpart at Hokkaido Coca-Cola, including phone calls over the course of three days, which lasted at least two to three hours. PayPay’s culture of valuing speed and supporting new initiatives significantly facilitated rapid adjustments.
Why was PayPay Paycheck selected among other cashless methods?
I’ve been told that using a new service was intended as a message in itself. There has been a lot of public interest in digital salary payments including PayPay Paycheck, and the designation of PayPay as a specified provider by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare garnered much attention. Being an early adopter of the service, I believe, is definitely a message in itself and will amplify the company’s presence in society.
From the practical side of things, I believe Hokkaido Coca-Cola experienced first-hand the small effort required to adopt the service; it doesn’t require a contract or system integration, and no fees are collected as long as a dedicated PayPay Bank account is used. This is why we were able to pull the project off in around one month.
What is it being received?
The press release issued by Hokkaido Coca-Cola received favorable responses, with inquiries and interview requests from newspapers and web media immediately after its issuance. Additionally, the counterpart I had been working with expressed their personal gratitude in being able to receive the supporter’s grant and using it with Coke ON or other payments without the need for actual cash, affirming the service’s benefits for employees. Other companies have already been reaching out to us too, and negotiations are advancing rapidly. Moving forward, I wish to deepen collaborations with Hokkaido Coca-Cola and continue advocating for implementation with other companies having similar support programs.
For inquiries regarding PayPay Paycheck, click here (Japanese page only)
PayPay Paycheck for Wages Beyond Monthly Salary Payments
How would you like PayPay Paycheck to be utilized in the future?
I hope it becomes more widely used for payment of wages other than just monthly salary payments. For example, incentives for excellent performance, lunch subsidies, rewards for acquiring a certification, etc. (limited to cases deemed as “wages” under Japanese law)
When PayPay Paycheck was initially launched, we hadn’t really anticipated cases like these. Rather, they have emerged as use cases through listening to the needs that various businesses have, including Hokkaido Coca-Cola. We believe the potential for PayPay Paycheck is limitless, and aim to provide new solutions by fulfilling unforeseen user needs like this. So if someone has a problem they’d like to solve with PayPay Paycheck, please get in touch.
What’s the thrill of promoting digital salary payments?
The challenge of spreading and facilitating the evolution of an unprecedented service. PayPay was the first in Japan to receive designation by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare to handle digital salary payments. We anticipate others will enter the digital payroll market, but PayPay already has a build-up of feedback and use cases. We take pride in leading the digital payroll market and aim to pursue various possibilities to make sure our service is not just a mere extension of bank accounts.
Lastly, do you have a message for the readers?
The number of PayPay Paycheck users is steadily growing, but in terms of the features it offers and also in sales and marketing strategies, it remains a service that requires ongoing trial and error. Even though it holds potential to transform norms, whether a “world where receiving salaries via PayPay is standard” can be realized, and if yes, how long it might take, is unknown. I would like to work with those who enjoy experimenting and taking up challenges towards uncertain futures.
Current job openings
*Job openings and employee affiliations are current as of the time of the interview.