JCB Co., Ltd. (JCB), Digital Garage, Inc. (Digital Garage), and Lawson, Inc. (Lawson) announced that they have jointly entered into a basic agreement to conduct a proof of concept (PoC) for in-store payments using stablecoins. The initiative brings together the JCB stablecoin payment service, Digital Garage’s payment API and back-end systems technologies, and Lawson’s in-store operations and POS system expertise.

Collectively, the three companies will run a PoC to test the potential of stablecoin payments at physical stores.

The PoC will focus on verifying use cases for Japan-bound visitors to make in-store payments with the US dollar-pegged stablecoin (USDC).

The parties will use the CPM (Consumer-Presented Mode) method, where a barcode with the stablecoin wallet address information displayed on the user’s smartphone is scanned by Lawson’s in-store POS.

Through this, the PoC will primarily verify the practicality and convenience of the use case where users make in-store payments using the US dollar–pegged stablecoin “USDC.”

The trial runs on Thursday, 20 August 2026, at the Lawson Gate City Osaki Atrium branch in Tokyo, using USDC on the Base blockchain.

JCB will supply the user-facing web screen and the payment barcode generation function. It will also handle the settlement of sales proceeds to merchants.

Meanwhile, Digital Garage will provide technical support for the trial duration, as well as provide the payment APIs and back-end systems. Lawson will supply the store environment for the said POC and integrate its in-store POS with the JCB stablecoin payment service.

Participants for the trial are limited to personnel from the three companies.

Featured image edited by Fintech News Hong Kong based on an image by FellowNekocat on Magnific