OREANDA-NEWS. ITOCHU Corporation announced that it will start selling prepaid cards that can be used as a payment method for Skype services. The cards will be released progressively starting August 4 at convenience stores equipped with the POSA technology from InComm Japan Co., Ltd.

In Japan, ITOCHU has been selling Skype Credit, a prepaid form of e-money that allows the use of the paid features of Skype services, at the multimedia kiosks of major convenience stores and over the Internet since October 2008. With this latest launch of Skype credit in the form of prepaid cards, users will be able to enjoy the paid features of Skype with greater ease.

In 2013 the domestic server-managed prepaid card market was worth 874.1 billion yen, and is forecast to grow to around 2.1 trillion yen by 2017. Having seized on these business opportunities in a timely fashion, ITOCHU will continue to plan and implement a range of initiatives to contribute to the further expansion of Skype services and improved convenience for Skype users.

InComm provides technology related to gift cards and prepaid cards and has developed a distribution and sales network spanning some 400,000 locations, primarily throughout North America. In 2013 InComm distributed or sold prepaid cards and gift cards worth approximately 2.8 trillion yen worldwide. InComm's latest POSA technology (Point of Sales Activation, a registered trademark of InComm) significantly improves the way prepaid products are sold and drastically simplifies the purchase process for consumers to buy products, bringing about a revolution in retail markets. InComm is headquartered in Atlanta, USA and maintains offices in 30 countries including Japan, Canada, England and South Korea.