Net Protections Implements Major Capital Alliance with JCB, Acquiring Roughly Six Billion Yen, Strengthening the Business Alliance

Net Protections Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, Shin Shibata, CEO, decided to execute a capital increase through third party allocation, receiving approximately six billion yen from JCB Co., Ltd, headquartered in Tokyo's Minato Ward, Ichiro Hamakawa, Chairman and CEO. This round of capital acquisition increases JCB's investment stake in Net Protections Holdings to 10.24%. At the same time, the two companies will begin a business alliance in the buy now, pay later (BNPL) market both within Japan and abroad.

Objectives for the Capital Alliance
Net Protections Holdings started offering services in 2002 via its Net Protections, Inc., subsidiary (collectively, the companies are referred to as the Net Protections Group) for post-payment processing in business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce. By FY2019, the Net Protections had established consistent growth as an e-commerce payment processing platform within Japan, recording more than 290 billion in total payment volumes for Net Protections Group's primary service, NP Atobarai, with more than 14.5 million unique users per year, reaching 200 million total transactions since service began. Furthermore, roughly 2,300 business have currently signed on for NP Kakebarai, the Net Protections Group payment processing services for business-to-business (B2B) transactions, with total annual payment volumes of 59 billion yen for more than 7.8 million total transactions, allowing Net Protections Group to grow the payment processing infrastructure needed for all business future payment work.

Net Protections Group is continuing various efforts to realize even more growth for both the expanding BNPL market platforms within Japan and beyond, and for B2B payment systems infrastructures. A decision was made to advance this capital alliance with JCB as part of the needed plans to strengthen Net Protection's business promotion.

Working together with JCB, the only international payment brand to have originated in Japan, with their rich network of participating merchants and their diverse payment solutions, together with the advanced service operations that support that network and those solutions, Net Protections will further expand services, including their NP Atobarai and NP Kakebarai offerings as well as Net Protection's atone cardless payment solution for B2C transactions.

The mission of Net Protections is to Create New Standard, and as a pioneering business within the Credit Tech industry, using technology to create new credit, the goal for Net Protections has been to make any and all types of commercial transactions proceed more smoothly. This capital alliance with JCB allows Net Protections to further strengthen its post-payment processing platform status as well as additional growth for the realization of the Net Protections' mission.

Comments from Representatives of Both Companies
Ichiro Hamakawa, Chairman and CEO of JCB
We are extremely pleased to be able to enter into a capital and business alliance at this juncture with Net Protections Holdings, a pioneer in the post payment processing market and a leading company.
We believe that the e-commerce market will continue to grow in the post-Coronavirus world. BNPL and credit cards will complement each other as a means of payment for e-commerce transactions, and with the synergy that can result when Net Protections Holdings and JCB work together, we believe we can offer customers high-quality services that they will be happy to use.

Shin Shibata, CEO, Net Protections Holdings
We are elated to be able to enter into a capital alliance at this juncture with JCB, the sole international credit card brand originating in Japan. An alliance between the two companies that lead in the fields of credit card and post-payment services will have great synergies.
When we bring together the network of merchants and the operations both companies have for B2C and B2B transactions, it will lead to accelerated growth opportunities for both companies. This will allow us to offer both merchants and users an even higher level of convenience.
As a comprehensive provider of post-payment services, and with our mission to Create New Standard, we aim to continue to grow and expand our business.

An Overview of the Capital Increase Through Third Party Allocation

An Overview of JCB Co., Ltd.
JCB is a major global payment brand and a leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981. Its acceptance network includes about 35 million merchants in the world. JCB Cards are now issued in over 20 countries and territories with more than 140 million cardmembers. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with hundreds of leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase merchant coverage and cardmember base. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to providing responsive and high-quality service and products to all customers worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.global.jcb/en/

An Overview of Net Protections, Inc.
As a pioneer in the field of Credit Tech, creating new credit through the use of technology, the objective for Net Protections, Inc. is to make any and all types of commercial transactions proceed more smoothly. In 2002, Net Protections began offering NP Atobarai , the first risk-free guarantee post-payment service in Japan and has subsequently seen year-on-year growth at a speed of roughly 116%. At present, the total number of transactions that have used NP Atobarai has exceeded 200 million. In 2014, Net Protections began sales in earnest of NP Kakebarai, a service developed for business-to-business transactions that was based on the credit experience and operational prowess that had been cultivated from the NP Atobarai business. NP Kakebarai continues to see year-on-year growth at a speed of roughly 137%. In 2017, Net Protections began offering the atone post-payment service, designed to make the purchase experience even easier. And then in 2018, Net Protections presented AFTEE, a post-payment service for smart phones in the Taiwan market. Through these business initiatives, Net Protections has maintained highly reliable big data that is otherwise difficult to acquire, including customer purchase and payment histories, and is working on ways to use and further develop that data in a wide variety of ways moving forward.