Is LINE Pay still available in Japan?

No. LY Corporation terminated the LINE Pay service in Japan on April 30, 2025, and the legal entity LINE Pay Corporation was absorbed into LY Corporation via merger effective March 31, 2026, with functions folded into sibling wallet PayPay.

Is LINE Pay Taiwan profitable?

Yes. LINE Pay Taiwan (TPE:7722) reported roughly 83% gross margin on core product revenue as of its April 10, 2025 investor conference, with revenue rising from NT$395 million in 2021 to NT$756 million in 2024, and turned annual net profit positive in that window.

LINE Pay's Japan and Thailand units are wholly owned by LY Corporation. LINE Pay Taiwan is separately listed (TPE:7722) but majority controlled by the LY/LINE Financial group, with Taipei Fubon Bank holding 17.22% and Union Bank of Taiwan holding 8.61% as of April 10, 2025.

Could AI replace LINE Pay?

Unlikely soon. QR scan-to-pay rails are commoditized but not model-replaceable; regulated payment licensing and bank equity ties form the real barrier. LY Corporation instead uses AI as a sustaining tool, e.g. fraud detection that cut violation-detection errors over threefold since April 2025.

Is LINE Pay losing to PayPay?

Yes, in Japan. LY Corporation chose to consolidate payments under PayPay, terminating LINE Pay's Japan service on April 30, 2025, and beginning LINE-PayPay account linking in summer 2026, per the July 2, 2026 joint press release.

What is LINE Pay's biggest competitor in Taiwan?

JKoPay and other bank-issued QR wallets compete directly, and even partner iPass Corp said in November 2025 it would shift its iPass Money wallet functions away from LINE Pay by end of 2025, signaling erosion of a prior tie-up.

Payments companies · absorbed · Japan

LINE Pay

pay.line.me ↗

Mobile payment wallet tied to the LINE app, run as separate entities across Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Defensible for now

Assessed 21 July 2026 · Evidence as of 21 July 2026

Real protection, with named pressure against it.

On the recordSince 21 July 2026 · Checkable from Q1 FY2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: LINE Pay Taiwan files its first post-IPO Q1 results as a standalone TWSE company

The call

Japan's version is already gone, folded into PayPay, while Taiwan runs as a profitable, separately listed business whose fate still depends on what LY Corporation decides to do with it next.

LINE Pay is actually three different payment services in three countries that all use the LINE app name but operate independently. In Japan, the parent company LY Corporation shut it down in early 2026 to focus on PayPay instead, which shows the parent prefers one payment brand per region rather than keeping LINE Pay alive. In Taiwan, LINE Pay is a listed company with a large user base and high profit margins, protected partly by banking rules and partnerships that new competitors find hard to replicate. In Thailand, it exists but publishes almost no numbers. The biggest question is whether the parent will eventually shut down Taiwan and Thailand LINE Pay too to consolidate everything under PayPay or local payments like Thailand's PromptPay, just like it did in Japan.

Why

AI pressure: None apparent. QR scan to pay is not something a model replaces. AI shows up inside the wallet for fraud checks and support, not as a hunter. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.

Bigger players: PayPay (same parent, LY Corporation). LY Corporation shut Japan LINE Pay in April 2025 and is merging the shell into itself by March 2026, choosing PayPay as the group's payment brand instead. Could a giant copy it? Probably.

What protects it. Taiwan's regulated payment license, bank equity partners like Taipei Fubon, and 12.7 million users give that unit a real, separately listed business.

What would change this call

PayPay-LINE account linking rollout completes (summer 2026). Confirms LY Corporation fully shifted Japan payments strategy to PayPay over LINE Pay.
LINE Pay Taiwan (TWSE 7722) files Q1 FY2026 results. Shows whether revenue/margin trend continues declining after partial-year drop to 2.03 (100M NTD).
LY Corporation announces regional payments consolidation plan for Taiwan or Thailand. Would show the Japan playbook (folding LINE Pay into PayPay) repeating elsewhere.

Key numbers

Japan LINE Pay terminated, 44M users lost (2025-04-30)
Taiwan revenue rose 3.95 to 7.56 (100M NTD), 2021-2024 (2025-04-10)
Taiwan gross margin about 83% (2025-04-10)

Named risks

Parent LY Corporation may fold Taiwan or Thailand units into PayPay as it did Japan. Severity: high
Japan LINE Pay entity already fully terminated and merged away, eliminating that market entirely. Severity: high
Thailand unit shows no independent traction disclosure, suggesting weak standalone position. Severity: medium
Taiwan revenue growth appears to decelerate based on partial 2025 figures versus prior year trend. Severity: medium
Taiwan partner iPass defecting from LINE Pay signals erosion of merchant/partner network. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
PayPay	losing to	Japan LINE Pay terminated April 30, 2025; parent LY Corp consolidated function into PayPay via account linking starting summer 2026
JKoPay	contesting	Competing wallet in Taiwan's crowded QR payment market as of 2025
iPass Money	losing to	Taiwan partner iPass said it would shift wallet functions away from LINE Pay by end of 2025
PromptPay	contesting	Thailand's mandated, free national bank-QR rail dominates local payment infrastructure
TrueMoney	contesting	Competing wallet in Thailand alongside PromptPay as of 2026

Questions people ask

Is LINE Pay still available in Japan?: No. LY Corporation terminated the LINE Pay service in Japan on April 30, 2025, and the legal entity LINE Pay Corporation was absorbed into LY Corporation via merger effective March 31, 2026, with functions folded into sibling wallet PayPay.
Is LINE Pay Taiwan profitable?: Yes. LINE Pay Taiwan (TPE:7722) reported roughly 83% gross margin on core product revenue as of its April 10, 2025 investor conference, with revenue rising from NT$395 million in 2021 to NT$756 million in 2024, and turned annual net profit positive in that window.
Who owns LINE Pay?: LINE Pay's Japan and Thailand units are wholly owned by LY Corporation. LINE Pay Taiwan is separately listed (TPE:7722) but majority controlled by the LY/LINE Financial group, with Taipei Fubon Bank holding 17.22% and Union Bank of Taiwan holding 8.61% as of April 10, 2025.
Could AI replace LINE Pay?: Unlikely soon. QR scan-to-pay rails are commoditized but not model-replaceable; regulated payment licensing and bank equity ties form the real barrier. LY Corporation instead uses AI as a sustaining tool, e.g. fraud detection that cut violation-detection errors over threefold since April 2025.
Is LINE Pay losing to PayPay?: Yes, in Japan. LY Corporation chose to consolidate payments under PayPay, terminating LINE Pay's Japan service on April 30, 2025, and beginning LINE-PayPay account linking in summer 2026, per the July 2, 2026 joint press release.
What is LINE Pay's biggest competitor in Taiwan?: JKoPay and other bank-issued QR wallets compete directly, and even partner iPass Corp said in November 2025 it would shift its iPass Money wallet functions away from LINE Pay by end of 2025, signaling erosion of a prior tie-up.

Timeline

2026-07-02LY Corp and PayPay announce account linking rollout starting summer 2026
2026-05-27Thai regulators confirm no further approval needed for LINE MAN acquisition
2026-05-08LY Corp FY2025 results issued; FY2026 revenue guidance JPY 2.24 trillion
2026-03-31LINE Pay Corporation merger into LY Corporation becomes effective
2025-12-23LY Corp board resolves absorption-type merger of LINE Pay Corporation
2025-11-26iPass Corp says it will shift iPass Money away from LINE Pay by end 2025
2025-04-30LINE Pay service in Japan fully terminated
2025-04-10LINE Pay Taiwan investor conference discloses margin and revenue data
2024-12-05LINE Pay Taiwan (TPE:7722) TWSE listing profile published
2024-06-13LY Corp announces termination of LINE Pay service in Japan

Revision history

21 July 2026

First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

In the same band

Block Plaid KG Inicis