Online shopping sites in Japan—including ecommerce malls—are now widely used, and online shopping has become commonplace. As a result, online retailers offer a wide variety of online payment methods.

The payment methods available on Japanese ecommerce sites include credit card payments, electronic money payments, convenience store payments, and many others. However, for customers to be comfortable when shopping online, it is important that ecommerce businesses establish solid security measures.

In this article, we explain how ecommerce businesses operating in Japan can enhance the security of their online stores, including which payment methods to use and how to implement them.

What’s in this article?

• Which payment method for online shopping is fully secure?
  
• How to make online shopping payments safer
  
• What payment methods should online shops provide?
  
• How to implement payment services for online shopping
  
• How Stripe Radar can help
  

Which payment method for online shopping is fully secure?

A primary concern for customers who shop online is whether or not the site is safe and secure. Therefore, it is extremely important for businesses to prepare a payment environment that is as secure as possible. However, fraudulent actors have become increasingly sophisticated. Unfortunately, no payment method can completely prevent fraud while shopping online. In fact, the amount of damage caused by online fraud continues to increase every year.

For example, credit cards are the most popular payment method in Japanese ecommerce. According to data released by the Japan Consumer Credit Association in December 2025, the amount of credit card fraud losses in 2024 reached a record high of ¥‎55.5 billion. This figure is more than double the amount of damage in 2020, which was just over ¥25 billion. This shows a significant upward trend in damages.

In addition, the amount of damages from fraud from January–September 2025 was over ¥41 billion, which is higher than the damage amount for the same period in 2024, which was over ¥39 billion. Based on these numbers, the total damage amount for 2025 is expected to surpass the previous year.

Ensuring total security in payment environments remains a challenge for online businesses. However, several measures have been implemented in recent years to effectively enhance security.

How to make online shopping payments safer

While it is extremely difficult to achieve total security for payments in online stores, it is possible to ensure the highest level of security possible. Here are several ways to enhance the security of an online store.

Enable Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption

It is important for an ecommerce site to support and enable SSL encryption. SSL encrypts communication data on the internet into random strings before sending and receiving it. For sites that support SSL, the uniform resource locator (URL) begins with “https” instead of “http.” This allows customers to easily recognize if SSL is enabled.

In addition, sites that do not support SSL typically display a warning: “This site is not secure.” This can create a feeling of unease or distrust in customers. Therefore, implementing SSL is important for enhancing the security of online shopping.

If an ecommerce site supports SSL encryption, customers can feel safe using it and knowing that their personal information is securely protected.

Adopt a fraud detection system

To create an online store where customers can enjoy safe shopping, implement a fraud detection system. Fraud detection systems can effectively prevent damage to an ecommerce site by detecting and automatically blocking various fraudulent transactions.

For example, fraud prevention tools provided by payment agents—such as Stripe Radar—can adapt to changing fraud patterns through machine learning. This allows them to employ the most up-to-date and advanced fraud prevention measures. By using these external tools, businesses don’t have to spend significant time or cost independently developing and building their own fraud prevention systems.

Establish a thorough internal management system

In addition to online fraud prevention measures, businesses must also implement security measures in their offline environments. To achieve this, it is important to raise awareness throughout the company and ensure that all employees know how to prevent fraud. Specifically, this can include the following:

• Prohibit removing materials that contain personal information.
  
• Shred unnecessary documents before disposal.
  
• Create a manual that enables prompt responses when problems occur, and make sure all employees are familiar with it.
  
• Encourage customers to practice risk management (e.g., setting complex passwords and avoiding shopping on public Wi-Fi).
  

What payment methods should online shops provide?

Customers generally prefer online stores that offer familiar payment methods. Therefore, it is important to offer a wide range of payment methods. Here are the payment methods commonly used for online shopping:

• Credit card payments
  Credit cards are the most popular payment method in ecommerce and are also used for a variety of everyday purposes.
  
• Konbini convenience store payments
  Customers can make payments at most convenience stores in Japan. This method is highly valued by customers who do not have credit cards and those who are reluctant to enter credit card information on ecommerce sites.
  
• Cash on delivery (COD)
  The delivery company collects the product fee when they deliver the product to the customer’s home. For COD payments, cash is usually the primary method. However, credit cards are now starting to be accepted.
  
• Buy now, pay later (BNPL)
  Buy now, pay later allows customers to pay at a later date rather than at the time of purchase. This deferred payment service allows for installment payments, even without a credit card. In most cases, no interest is charged, making it a convenient payment method for customers.
  
• Bank transfer
  Payment is made via bank transfer from a bank teller window, automated teller machine (ATM), or internet banking.
  
• Smartphone payment
  This can include payments with quick-response (QR) codes, carriers, e-money, etc. With smartphone payments, customers can make payments through payment apps downloaded to their devices.
  

How to implement payment services for online shopping

There are two methods for implementing payment services: direct contracts and payment agents. However, we recommend using a payment agent because they offer superior convenience.

When directly contracting payment services, each payment service requires separate agreements and reviews. This involves a preparation process for each one, as well as the need for specialized knowledge about implementing them.

On the other hand, using a payment agent allows a company to outsource the work involved in contracting with each company and implementing payment systems. This can save time and effort required to build a payment environment in-house. An added benefit is that it enables centralized management of sales and customer data after implementation, thereby simplifying ecommerce operations.

Before a payment agent implements payment functionality on a site, the company should obtain a quote and pay attention to the following points:

• Suitability: Are the payment services compatible with the products and services the company offers?
  
• Payment methods: Can the payment agent implement the needed payment methods?
  
• Security: Are comprehensive security measures in place?
  
• Cost effectiveness: Are the fee structure (e.g., fees and initial costs) and payout cycle set up to encourage cash flow?
  

To create a convenient and highly secure online store in Japan, it is important to thoroughly understand several key considerations and the processes needed to implement them. For customer convenience, it is important to consider multiple, widely used payment methods that customers demand. This can make the online store easier to use. By expanding payment method options, companies show that they prioritize customer convenience while emphasizing security. Therefore, it is important to implement thorough security measures, such as highly accurate fraud detection systems.

How Stripe Radar can help

Stripe Radar uses AI models to detect and prevent fraud, trained on data from Stripe’s global network. It continuously updates these models based on the latest fraud trends, protecting your business as fraud evolves.

Stripe also offers Radar for Fraud Teams, which allows users to add custom rules addressing fraud scenarios specific to their businesses and access advanced fraud insights.
Radar can help your business:

• Prevent fraud losses: Stripe processes over $1 trillion in payments annually. This scale uniquely enables Radar to accurately detect and prevent fraud, saving you money.
  
• Increase revenue: Radar’s AI models are trained on actual dispute data, customer information, browsing data, and more. This enables Radar to identify risky transactions and reduce false positives, boosting your revenue.
  
• Save time: Radar is built into Stripe and requires zero lines of code to set up. You can also monitor your fraud performance, write rules, and more in a single platform, increasing efficiency.
  

Learn more about Stripe Radar, or get started today.