LIQUID, a Japanese identity technology company that has built its business around the government’s JPKI infrastructure, has announced two new deployments that push its eKYC platform further into everyday consumer transactions: parcel pickup through Japan Post’s hakopost locker network, and payment-card and bank-account registration in the Machi Pay app. JPKI – the Japanese Public Key Infrastructure – is the cryptographic framework embedded in the My Number card, Japan’s national identity credential, which enables chip-based identity verification for both government and private-sector services.
The Japan Post deployment covers missed-delivery parcel pickup. When a customer receives a notice for an undelivered parcel or registered mail, they can now collect it from a hakopost locker after completing a LIQUID eKYC check. LIQUID was selected in part because of earlier work it had done inside Japan Post’s e-Tenkyo address-change service, where improvements to My Number card reading and back-office support had reduced customer support inquiries from that flow.
The Machi Pay integration has a more direct fintech application. The app previously required about a week to complete identity review for payment-card and bank-account registration. LIQUID eKYC replaces that process with near-instant approval, using My Number card IC-chip reading combined with face authentication. The result is fewer photos for users to submit, less manual back-office review, and stronger defenses against impersonation fraud.
Both deployments reflect the direction Japan’s identity infrastructure has been heading. The government has already pushed My Number card integration with Apple Wallet, moving the national credential deeper into mobile channels. LIQUID’s expansion shows the downstream effect: once JPKI is accessible via smartphone, the same chip-and-face workflow that once belonged to bank onboarding can reach parcel lockers, payment apps, and other touchpoints that most users would treat as routine rather than identity-sensitive.
Sources: PR TIMES
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By Ji-seo Kim
