PayPay will stop accepting identity-verification applications that require users to photograph their documents, and will instead require methods that read the chips in My Number cards and driver’s licenses, by early November. The change tightens know-your-customer checks for the cashless payment service.
The company cited a growing risk of impersonation after cyberattacks exposed personal information, including images of driver’s licenses. It is making the change ahead of an amendment to the ordinance implementing Japan’s Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds, scheduled for April 1, 2027. Kyoto Bank is making a similar switch for app-based account opening on November 2.
For My Number card holders, one remaining route reads the card’s chip and uses information in its electronic signature certificate. Applicants enter the six- to 16-character alphanumeric password set when the card was issued. PayPay says the application can take as little as two minutes.
A second My Number route asks users to enter information printed on the card, complete facial recognition and read the chip. PayPay directs people who have forgotten their electronic signature certificate password to this option.
The driver’s-license method reads information recorded in the license’s chip. The supported application methods require PayPay app version 4.28.0 or later. The announcement separately directs holders of residence cards and special permanent resident certificates to the service’s identity-verification guidance.
PayPay’s Japanese-language verification guide says the driver’s-license route requires the license’s two four-digit PINs. The My Number route that uses printed card information also includes a face photograph and a blink check after the chip scan.
The guide distinguishes application time from review time: chip-reading applications can be reviewed as soon as the same day, while other applications take several days. It also states that driving history certificates cannot be used for verification from October 23.
The guide says no setup is needed when an account already displays its identity-verified status. Applicants receive the verification result through a push notification in the app and can also check their account settings.
More than 44 million users had completed PayPay’s identity verification by September 2026. The company places the checks within its measures against criminal activity, unauthorized use, money laundering and terrorist financing.
PayPay also says it encrypts personal and payment information, monitors unauthorized communications around the clock throughout the year, and uses internal and external experts to assess vulnerabilities in its app.
Sources: PayPay, PayPay verification guide
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
