Quick Overview: STORES Payments Isn't Just for the Online Store
Most people searching "STORES Payments" want to introduce a wide range of payment methods across both a physical location and online. STORES Payments isn't a payment method limited to a STORES online shop — it's a payment service designed to work across multiple sales channels, including a physical POS register and a reservation system. This guide covers how its fee structure works, the breadth of its supported payment methods, including WeChat Pay (a method widely used by inbound visitors), and how to think about building a cashless strategy around it.
How STORES Payments' Fee Structure Works
According to STORES's official site, STORES Payments' face-to-face transaction fees are 1.98%+ for credit cards and 3.24% each for e-money and QR code payments. That said, the 1.98%+ credit card rate comes with conditions — including that the store's annual face-to-face cashless transaction volume stays under ¥30 million — and whether it actually applies requires a separate inquiry. Some industries, like healthcare providers, may qualify for special rates. Before signing up, it's worth checking with the official site or STORES directly on whether your own transaction volume meets the conditions.
Broad Support for Payment Methods, Including WeChat Pay
One of STORES Payments' defining strengths is the breadth of payment methods it supports. Per STORES's official site, it supports credit cards from Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club, and Discover, including contactless payment. For e-money, it supports transit cards like Suica and PASMO, plus QUICPay+ and iD. For QR code payments, it's listed as supporting PayPay, d払い, Rakuten Pay, SmartCode, au PAY, Merpay, FamiPay, Bank Pay, Alipay+, and WeChat Pay, among others.
WeChat Pay in particular is well known as a payment method widely used day-to-day by visitors from China. For a business expecting inbound tourist traffic, having a method like WeChat Pay set up in advance can lower the barrier to making a purchase. We weren't able to confirm, from clear statements on STORES's official site at the time of writing, whether cards issued overseas can be used for payment. It's worth checking directly with STORES on that specific point.
A Cashless Strategy Spanning Your Online Store and Physical Location
STORES Payments isn't limited to an online store — it's designed to work across multiple sales channels, including STORES Register (a POS system), mobile ordering, and a reservation system. As covered in a separate guide, 76.4% of shops using both STORES Register and the online store together actually use the feature linking inventory between their physical and online channels. For a business planning to operate across multiple sales channels, that means payments, inventory, and sales can be managed in a fairly unified way. Being able to offer consistent cashless support to both in-person customers and online buyers through the same payment infrastructure is a solid foundation for thinking about a cashless strategy with global reach in mind.
Expanding the range of cashless options you accept matters because it reduces the number of customers who give up on a purchase — but that alone isn't the goal. How you actually communicate which payment methods you accept, and how that connects to inbound demand or overseas expansion, is the operational work that still has to happen. Leap's AI E-Commerce Agent is built with an eye toward supporting everything from building and running an e-commerce business through overseas expansion, through conversation with AI, including the practical work that comes after setting up a cashless strategy.
FAQ
Q. Will my credit card processing fee always be 1.98% with STORES Payments?
A. Not necessarily. The 1.98%+ rate comes with conditions, including that your store's annual face-to-face cashless transaction volume stays under ¥30 million, and whether it applies requires a separate inquiry. It's worth checking before signing up whether your own transaction volume meets the conditions.
Q. If WeChat Pay is supported, can I handle all inbound visitor payments without issue?
A. WeChat Pay is listed as one of the QR code payment methods STORES Payments supports, but other aspects — like whether overseas-issued credit cards are accepted — weren't something we could fully confirm from official sources at the time of writing. If you're seriously planning for inbound visitor payments, it's worth understanding which payment methods your expected customers actually use and checking directly with STORES.
Q. Are sales and payment data managed separately for my online store and physical location?
A. STORES Payments is designed to work across multiple sales channels, not just an online store, including POS registers and reservation systems. Linking with STORES Register lets you manage product and inventory data in one place. If you're planning to operate across multiple sales channels, it's worth taking advantage of this kind of integration.
Summary and Key Takeaway
"What is STORES Payments" isn't fully answered by calling it just "a payment method for an online store." Once you factor in its broad support for payment methods, including WeChat Pay, and its design spanning an online store, a physical location, and a reservation system, it becomes clearer how it can serve as a foundation for capturing inbound demand and building a unified online-offline cashless strategy. Adding more payment methods is only a means; the real question to face is how you communicate those options and actually turn them into purchases and foot traffic.
For more on this, see our guide to the basics of how STORES works.
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