The "pitfalls" of My Number Points that caused some businesses to suffer unexpected losses

"My Number Points" is a project that gives points that can be used for various cashless payments to those who obtain My Number cards.

The government has invested 1 trillion yen in the national budget as a measure to promote the spread of My Number cards, and the first phase of the project will be carried out in 2020 and the second phase in 2022. A total of 75.56 million users will apply for My Number Points by September 2023, when the project ends. It is still fresh in people's memory that this was a good opportunity for payment companies to acquire members and use the service for payments.

However, it is surprisingly unknown that some businesses have faced unexpected losses due to My Number Points.

For example, Seven Bank, a subsidiary of Seven & i Holdings, reported a loss of about 1.2 billion yen at its April-December 2023 financial results briefing. The core of the loss was Seven Card Services, a subsidiary of Seven Bank that issues credit cards and electronic money "Nanaco."

Seven Card participated in the My Number Point program, but as a result of the Nanaco points it had been granted being used more than expected, it recorded an unexpected 1.2 billion yen as an expense. The company also expects a separate loss of around 2 to 2.5 billion yen in the January-March 2024 period, and says that Seven Card alone is expected to fall into the red for the full fiscal year.

The reason for these losses lies in the system design of the My Number Point program.