DoCoMo and Casio Form JV

DoCoMo announced yesterday that they have agreed to form a joint venture company with Casio to provide digital payment systems, mainly for DoCoMo’s iD mobile credit-card platform, and related customer relationship management services. Combining Casio’s digital cash-register technologies and retail support know-how with DoCoMo’s expertise in mobile payments, the joint venture, to be named CXD NEXT, will develop services centered around Casio’s new cash register with virtual private network capability and reader/writer compatibility for mobile e-wallet services.

CXD NEXT will be headed by President Yasukazu Ohira, currently the manager of Casio’s Business Development Section. Capitalized at 750 million yen with another 750 million yen in capital reserves, the company will be owned 60% by Casio and 40% by DoCoMo. It will be established on July 9 and begin providing services on September 1 with an operating with a staff of around 20. The company plans in future to expand its CRM offerings by incorporating DoCoMo’s Osaifu-Keitai e-wallet and ToruCa information-capture services.