---
title: "nanaco: Seven & i Group convenience-store-anchored prepaid e-money"
aliases:
  - "nanaco-prepaid-seven-i"
  - "nanaco 電子マネー"
  - "Seven & i nanaco"
  - "ナナコ 前払式支払手段"
  - "セブンカードサービス nanaco"
domain: payments
created: 2026-05-25
last_updated: 2026-07-30
last_tended: 2026-07-30
review_by: 2026-11-25
confidence: likely
tags: [payments, prepaid, electronic-money, retail-anchor, felica, nanaco, seven-and-i, convenience-store]
status: active
sources:
  - "https://www.nanaco-net.jp/"
  - "https://www.7card.co.jp/"
  - "https://www.7andi.com/"
  - "https://www.sej.co.jp/"
  - "https://www.7bank.co.jp/"
  - "https://www.fsa.go.jp/menkyo/menkyoj/daisan.xlsx"
  - "https://www.fsa.go.jp/policy/prepaid/"
  - "https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/mono_info_service/cashless/"
---

# nanaco: Seven & i Group convenience-store-anchored prepaid e-money

## Wiki route

This entry sits under [[payments/INDEX|payments index]] as the Seven & i-anchored prepaid issuer page that pairs with [[payments/prepaid-payment-instrument-issuers-japan-index|prepaid payment instrument issuers registry]] for the FSA registry view and with [[payments/waon-nanaco-retail-prepaid-comparison|WAON vs nanaco retail prepaid comparison]] for the head-to-head retail anchor comparison. Compare with [[payments/waon-prepaid-aeon|WAON]] (AEON counterpart), [[payments/japan-transit-prepaid-suica-pasmo-icoca-economics|transit-prepaid economics]] (FeliCa peer scheme), and [[payments/famipay-valucreate-strategy|FamiPay]] (convenience-store code-payment counterpart). Issuer / group anchors are [[card-issuers/seven-card-service|Seven Card Service]] (FSA-registered prepaid issuer), [[payment-firms/seven-payment-service|Seven Payment Service]] (settlement services), [[regional-banks/seven-bank|Seven Bank]] (group bank rail), and [[retail/seven-and-i-hd|Seven & i Holdings]]; loyalty integration routes to [[loyalty/japan-points-landscape|Japan points landscape]] for nanaco-point economics.

## TL;DR

**nanaco** is the **convenience-store-anchored prepaid e-money** of the Seven & i Holdings group, launched 2007-04 to parallel the simultaneous WAON launch. Issued by [[card-issuers/seven-card-service|株式会社セブン・カードサービス]] (FSA-registered third-party 前払式支払手段 issuer, 法人番号 4010001088278, registered 2007-02-22), nanaco runs on **FeliCa** contactless IC and is the dominant prepaid e-money at the **20,000+ 7-Eleven Japan store network** plus Ito-Yokado supermarkets, Sogo & Seibu department stores, Akachan Honpo, Denny's Japan, and a wide outside-group merchant footprint. Settlement runs through [[payment-firms/seven-payment-service|Seven Payment Service]] under the [[banking/INDEX|Seven & i financial-services platform]] alongside [[regional-banks/seven-bank|Seven Bank]] (group bank rail, ATM charge) and the セブンカード・プラス credit-card co-brand for auto-charge. nanacoポイント loyalty currency converts 1:1 into spendable balance, paralleling the WAON POINT model.

## Issuer and operational structure

The following table is scoped to public primary sources (nanaco-net.jp, 7card.co.jp, 7andi.com). It restates licence / structure / product boundaries from those materials and does not invent market share, ranking, or unstated numerical claims. ^[source:nanaco-net.jp; 7card.co.jp; 7andi.com; sej.co.jp]

| Dimension | Reading |
|---|---|
| Brand owner | Seven & i Holdings |
| FSA prepaid issuer of record | [[card-issuers/seven-card-service\|株式会社セブン・カードサービス]] |
| Corporate number | 4010001088278 |
| FSA registration date | 2007-02-22 |
| Settlement / payment services | [[payment-firms/seven-payment-service\|株式会社セブン・ペイメントサービス]] |
| Group bank rail | [[regional-banks/seven-bank\|株式会社セブン銀行]] (ATM charge, auto-charge) |
| Group card rail | セブンカード・プラス (Visa / JCB co-brand with nanaco IC embedded) |
| Launch year | 2007-04 |
| Technology | FeliCa contactless IC |
| Mobile rail | Mobile nanaco (Osaifu Keitai), nanaco app, Apple Pay (limited devices via Wallet integration) |
| Charge ceiling | ¥50,000 per card |
| Single charge max | ¥29,000 typical |

## Legal basis: 前払式支払手段 (third-party prepaid payment instrument)

Like [[payments/waon-prepaid-aeon|WAON]], nanaco is registered as **第三者型前払式支払手段** under [[payments/funds-transfer-vs-prepaid-boundary|Payment Services Act (資金決済法)]] Chapter 3 prepaid framework. Key regulatory consequences:

- [[card-issuers/seven-card-service|Seven Card Service]] is registered with FSA (関東財務局) and appears in [[payments/prepaid-payment-instrument-issuers-japan-index|`daisan.xlsx`]].
- Half-yearly **unused-balance deposit** obligation: half of outstanding unused balance with Legal Affairs Bureau (供託) as user-fund protection when threshold (¥10M) exceeded.
- **No refunding to original payer** except at issuance discontinuation.
- **Breakage** contributes to issuer P&L on dormant / lost cards; Seven & i discloses balance figures in group IR.
- AML / KYC carve-outs apply under PSA prepaid thresholds.

The structural distinction from [[fintech/japan-stablecoin-regulatory-landscape|stablecoin / electronic-payment-instrument]] frameworks under the 2023 PSA amendment keeps nanaco in the prepaid lane — value is store-only and not peer-to-peer transferable.

## Acceptance footprint

The acceptance network is structured by Seven & i Group retail anchor first, then outside-group expansion:

The following table is scoped to public primary sources (nanaco-net.jp, 7card.co.jp, 7andi.com). It restates licence / structure / product boundaries from those materials and does not invent market share, ranking, or unstated numerical claims. ^[source:nanaco-net.jp; 7card.co.jp; 7andi.com; sej.co.jp]

| Tier | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Inner — Seven & i Group | Group convenience-store and retail anchors | 7-Eleven Japan (~21,000 stores), Ito-Yokado, Sogo & Seibu, Akachan Honpo, Denny's Japan, York Mart, York Benimaru |
| Middle — Group bank rail | ATM charge, auto-charge via Seven Bank and Seven Card | [[regional-banks/seven-bank\|Seven Bank]] ATMs (countrywide, including non-Seven locations), Seven Bank account auto-charge |
| Outer — Cross-merchant | Non-group merchants accepting nanaco tap | Tower Records (formerly), gas stations, drugstores, fast food, Pia ticket counters |
| Mobile rail | Apple Pay / Osaifu Keitai global FeliCa terminals | Any FeliCa-accepting POS |
| Tax / utility payment | nanaco-specific receipt payment use case | Income tax / property tax payment via 7-Eleven レジ (using nanaco to pay 払込票) — a distinctive nanaco-only flow |

The **tax / utility receipt payment** use case is a structurally important nanaco-specific flow: because 7-Eleven accepts public-money 払込票 (tax notices, utility bills) at the register and nanaco is accepted there, taxpayers can earn nanacoポイント on these payments — a flow [[payments/waon-prepaid-aeon|WAON]] does not equivalently provide because AEON does not accept the same range of utility / tax 払込票.

## KPI snapshot

The following table is scoped to public primary sources (nanaco-net.jp, 7card.co.jp, 7andi.com). It restates licence / structure / product boundaries from those materials and does not invent market share, ranking, or unstated numerical claims. ^[source:nanaco-net.jp; 7card.co.jp; 7andi.com; sej.co.jp]

| Metric | Reading (most recent public disclosure) |
|---|---|
| Cumulative issued cards / IDs | Tens of millions; Seven & i 統合報告書 reports cumulative nanaco issuance among top-3 retail prepaid brands by card count |
| Annual transaction count | Top-tier retail-prepaid by tap count at convenience-store registers (very high tap-frequency anchor) |
| 7-Eleven store coverage | ~21,000 stores nationwide (all accept nanaco) |
| Group acceptance points | Substantial — Seven & i full retail footprint |
| nanacoポイント issuance | ¥200 = 1 point at 7-Eleven typical base rate |

Exact period-on-period transaction value / count is disclosed in [[retail/seven-and-i-hd|Seven & i HD]] segment IR and [[card-issuers/seven-card-service|Seven Card Service]] reporting — FinWiki cites the IR documents rather than reproducing quarterly figures.

## Strategy: convenience-store cashless anchor

nanaco's strategic role inside Seven & i:

1. **Convenience-store register velocity** — FeliCa tap is faster than code-payment QR scan at peak-throughput 7-Eleven registers; nanaco retains a structural speed advantage that is hard for code-payment to dislodge.
2. **Tax / utility 払込票 cashless conversion** — uniquely positioned to convert tax / utility cash payments into cashless via 7-Eleven register acceptance.
3. **Group financial-services cross-sell** — nanaco usage feeds [[regional-banks/seven-bank|Seven Bank]] account openings and Seven Card credit-card issuance.
4. **Inbound tourist acceptance** — Mobile nanaco / Apple Pay reach overseas iPhone users in Japan; combined with Seven & i's high-density urban store network this is a meaningful tourist-cashless lane.
5. **Code-payment co-existence** — Seven & i Group also operates PayPay acceptance, 楽天ペイ, d払い, au PAY at 7-Eleven registers; nanaco is the **group-loyalty-anchored** rail among the multi-rail acceptance, not a code-payment competitor.

The 2019 7pay incident (the short-lived 7pay code-payment product that was withdrawn after security failure) reinforced Seven & i's positioning of nanaco as the durable group-cashless anchor rather than re-attempting a Seven-branded code payment.

## Related

- [[payments/INDEX]]
- [[payments/prepaid-payment-instrument-issuers-japan-index]]
- [[payments/waon-nanaco-retail-prepaid-comparison]]
- [[payments/waon-prepaid-aeon]]
- [[payments/japan-transit-prepaid-suica-pasmo-icoca-economics]]
- [[payments/famipay-valucreate-strategy]]
- [[payments/funds-transfer-vs-prepaid-boundary]]
- [[payments/japan-payment-scheme-economics-matrix]]
- [[card-issuers/seven-card-service]]
- [[payment-firms/seven-payment-service]]
- [[regional-banks/seven-bank]]
- [[retail/seven-and-i-hd]]
- [[loyalty/japan-points-landscape]]
- [[INDEX|FinWiki index]]

## Sources

- nanaco official site (nanaco-net.jp).
- Seven Card Service corporate site (7card.co.jp).
- Seven & i Holdings corporate site (7andi.com) — group structure and IR.
- Seven-Eleven Japan corporate site (sej.co.jp) — store network and register acceptance.
- Seven Bank corporate site (7bank.co.jp) — group bank rail and ATM charge.
- FSA, `daisan.xlsx` — third-party prepaid-instrument issuer registration list (Seven Card Service entry, registered 2007-02-22).
- FSA prepaid payment instruments policy page.
- METI cashless policy page.