KOMOJU Review

KOMOJU is a Japanese payment service that lets online shops take the payment methods Japanese shoppers actually use: cards, convenience-store (konbini) payments, bank transfer, Pay-easy, PayPay and other wallets, carrier billing and prepaid e-money, plus local methods in South Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Europe and Brazil. It is run by KOMOJU Co., Ltd. of Musashino, Tokyo, which was called DEGICA Co., Ltd. until March 2026 and is registered with Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to sign card merchant contracts. As of October 2026, on its Japan price list cards cost 3.25%, konbini 2.75%, bank transfer 1.4%, and PayPay and similar wallets from 3.5% for physical goods. Those rates exclude Japan's 10% consumption tax, which is added for Japan-registered merchants. There is no setup or monthly fee, but each payout carries a bank transfer fee of 220 to 410 yen in Japan or 2,500 yen to an approved overseas account. Payouts are monthly, by the end of the following month, or weekly on request. The marketing says you can cancel anytime. The merchant terms set a one-year term that renews automatically, ask for three months' written notice to end early, and let KOMOJU withhold funds for six months when it sees chargeback risk. Independent merchant reviews are scarce.

Estimated annual cost at three realistic processing volumes, using KOMOJU’s published online rate plus monthly fees. Real costs vary with average transaction size, chargeback rate, and any negotiated terms.

What KOMOJU is

KOMOJU is an online payment service built to make Japan's payment methods available to online merchants, including those based outside Japan. Many Japanese shoppers prefer to pay in cash at convenience stores, by bank transfer, through Pay-easy at an ATM or online bank, or with QR wallets such as PayPay. KOMOJU puts those methods, plus local options in South Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Europe and Brazil, behind one API, a hosted payment page and plugins for Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, Magento and other platforms. KOMOJU also sells a free card terminal and Tap to Pay for shops in Japan, payment links and a prepaid business card. In March 2026 the company said more than 20,000 merchants had integrated KOMOJU. That is its own figure, and we have not seen independent confirmation.

The company behind it

The operator is KOMOJU Co., Ltd., based in Kichijoji, Musashino, Tokyo. Its company page gives an incorporation date of 13 June 2005 and names Jack Momose as founder and CEO. Until 5 March 2026 it was DEGICA Co., Ltd., a shortening of "Digital Cart"; Japan's National Tax Agency corporate-number register (number 9012401018462) records the change of name on that date. The company said the rename changed none of its services or existing contracts, and payouts began switching to the new remitter name from May 2026. The company also published video games, best known in the West for the RPG Maker series, and spun that business off as a separate company, Komodo, in June 2021. KOMOJU launched in 2016, and the company says it worked with Valve to let Steam customers in Japan and South Korea pay with local methods. The company has not published its shareholders. Third-party databases list a 2012 acquisition by Nexway, while a 2021 post by RPG Maker staff said ownership was unchanged when the games business was spun off. We found no primary source for either, so we do not say who owns the company.

How it works, and why we list it as a payment facilitator

You sign one merchant agreement, the KOMOJU Merchant Services Terms of Use, with KOMOJU Co., Ltd. KOMOJU then acts as your general agent: it applies to the card companies and wallet, konbini and bank-transfer providers for you, signs their merchant contracts on your behalf, receives your customers' payments as your proxy, deducts its fees and pays you the balance. Where more than one acquirer handles a card brand, it chooses which one you use. You never deal with the acquirers directly, the price is KOMOJU's own published rate, and KOMOJU controls payouts and holds. That is the payment facilitator role, so we list it as a payfac, although under Japan's agency model the card contract is technically formed between you and the card company. KOMOJU is on METI's register of companies authorised to sign card merchant contracts (Kanto (ku) No. 145). It is not a merchant of record: you remain the seller, and you are responsible for refunds, disputes and consumer law. Every payment method needs approval first, and the card companies can refuse you without giving a reason.

What it costs

• No setup fee and no monthly fee. You pay per transaction, plus a fee on each payout.
• Japan, as of October 2026, excluding 10% consumption tax: cards 3.25%; konbini 2.75%; Pay-easy 2.75%; bank transfer 1.4%; Apple Pay and Google Pay 3.25%; PayPay, Merpay, d-Barai, au PAY and Paidy 3.5% for physical goods; Rakuten Pay 4.4%; au and SoftBank carrier billing 6.6%; WebMoney, BitCash and NET CASH 12%.
• Digital content costs more on several wallets: 9% on PayPay, Merpay and Paidy, 8.4% on Rakuten Pay, and 15% on au PAY, d-Barai and SoftBank carrier billing. The pricing page shows these only as ranges such as "3.5%~"; the full rates are in the fee table attached to the terms.
• Cross-border cards: Visa and Mastercard charged in USD, EUR, GBP and other foreign currencies cost 4.50%, the same as South Korean cards.
• In-store in Japan: 2.88% for Visa and Mastercard, 3.20% for other card brands, 3.24% for PayPay, Alipay+ and WeChat Pay.
• Payout transfer fees: ¥220 under ¥30,000 and ¥410 at ¥30,000 or more to a Japanese bank account; ¥2,500, $25, €25 or ₩30,000 per currency to an approved overseas account.
• Refunds of konbini, bank transfer and Pay-easy payments cost ¥300 each. Shoppers pay their own ¥220 konbini fee and ¥190 Pay-easy fee.
• Fees are not refunded when you refund a sale or lose a chargeback. KOMOJU publishes no chargeback fee amount, but its settlement reports include a "Chargeback Fixed Fees" deduction line, so ask whether one applies to your account.
• Volume pricing is offered to businesses processing more than $150,000 a month. KOMOJU can change the fee table on one month's notice.

Consumption tax matters for Japanese merchants. KOMOJU's own help centre example charges ¥152 on a ¥5,000 konbini payment: ¥138 fee plus ¥14 tax. On a ¥20,000 card sale the fee is ¥650 plus ¥65 tax, ¥715 in all, or about 3.58%. A merchant registered overseas does not pay the tax. If you are paid monthly to a Japanese account, the payout fee is small, typically ¥410 a month once your balance passes ¥30,000. Weekly payouts to an overseas account cost ¥2,500 or $25 every week, which adds up for a small seller.

Payouts and holds

You choose a monthly or weekly payout cycle when you apply and can change it in the dashboard. On the monthly cycle, a month's sales are paid by the last day of the following month, so the first sale of a month can wait about two months for payout. On the weekly cycle, sales from Saturday to Friday are paid by the following Friday. KOMOJU can impose a different cycle based on volume, risk profile and business size. The default minimum payout is ¥1,000. Overseas payouts need KOMOJU's approval, and transfers under ¥20,000 equivalent roll over. Japanese businesses can bypass the wait with the KOMOJU Card, a free Visa business card that spends the sales balance directly and pays 0.5% cashback, which KOMOJU says lowers your fees. The terms let KOMOJU withhold payouts during investigations, disputes, suspected misuse or when a payment provider withholds funds, without interest. When it reasonably judges a chargeback possible, it may hold payouts for six months as a general rule, longer on reasonable grounds (Article 34(5)). When a chargeback arrives, the disputed amount is deducted from your next payout, added back once you submit a defence, and deducted again if the defence fails. A chargeback management tool for reviewing and defending disputes launched in August 2026.

Contract terms

The marketing and the contract say different things. The pricing page lists "Cancel anytime". The KOMOJU Merchant Services Terms of Use (the English PDF dated 30 September 2026) say in Article 30 that the agreement lasts one year and renews for another year unless either side gives written notice at least one month before it ends, and that ending early needs three months' written notice. If KOMOJU amends the terms, Article 31 lets you terminate on one month's written notice. No early-termination fee is named. KOMOJU can suspend service without notice if you breach the terms, if a payment provider asks, or if you have not used the service for three months. It can cancel the agreement on a long list of grounds, including any case where it or a payment provider decides continuing is inappropriate. Late payments to KOMOJU carry 14.6% annual interest, and KOMOJU's liability is capped at three months of its fees. You must notify the products you sell and get approval before changing them or your website. Japanese law governs the terms. Disputes go to the Tokyo District Court, or, for merchants with no presence in Japan, to English-language arbitration in Tokyo under the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association's rules.

Who it will not serve

KOMOJU is not a high-risk processor. Its acceptable use policy rules out gambling of every kind, adult and age-restricted products, crypto, CBD, dating and marriage agencies, forex, CFDs and binary options, multi-level marketing, payday loans, tobacco and vapes, pharmacies, crowdfunding, donations, unauthorised game-key resellers, and many other categories. It also excludes travel businesses such as airlines and cruise lines, and services regulated under Japanese laws on continuous services and pharmaceutical claims. It does serve digital content and games, but at higher rates on several Japanese wallets.

Reputation and complaints

There is very little independent merchant feedback. As of October 2026 we found no Trustpilot profile for KOMOJU and no reviews on its Capterra listing. Its WooCommerce plugin has two ratings averaging 3 out of 5 with more than 1,000 active installations. On ITreview, a Japanese software review site, it scores 4.2 from five reviews by small businesses, mostly retailers, who praise the range of payment methods and the quick Shopify connection, and want faster account opening and more dashboard customisation. KOMOJU's registration with METI is current, and searches in English and Japanese found no lawsuit, regulatory action or data breach naming KOMOJU or DEGICA Co., Ltd. A 2023 cancellation by METI's Kanto bureau of the registration of Degicajapan Inc. (株式会社デジカジャパン) is easy to confuse with KOMOJU's former name, DEGICA, but it concerned a separate company with a different corporate number, address and representative. It was not an action against KOMOJU.

Who should use KOMOJU

KOMOJU makes most sense for an online business, in Japan or abroad, that loses sales because Japanese shoppers cannot pay the way they prefer. Konbini, bank transfer, Pay-easy, PayPay and carrier billing are the payment methods it is built around. Game, software and digital-content sellers will find Japanese prepaid and carrier methods here, but should check the higher digital-content rates. Japanese shops can add a free terminal and pay 2.88% on Visa and Mastercard in store. It is a weaker choice if you mainly take international cards, which cost 4.50%; if you need money quickly in a foreign bank account; or if you want a contract you can walk away from at will. Before signing, ask KOMOJU to confirm in writing how the one-year term and three-month notice apply, what reserve or holding period your account will carry, and the full rate for your product type on each method you plan to use.