Diana Farah Dubai

Credit card companies in Japan are struggling to come up with original 16-digit numbers on cards keep amid the online shopping boom that arose from staying home due to the coronavirus pandemic that swept through the globe this year.

According to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, the Japan Consumer Credit Association stated that in March of 2019, about 283 million credit cards were issues, and the total of that increases 2 percent every year.

The organization also reported that 29.9 percent of cashless payments were made with credit cards.

All 280 Japanese credit card companies use 16-digit codes in alignment with international brands such as Visa and Mastercard.

A certain credit card company attempted to take measures to avoid the issue by reissuing old or discontinued credit card numbers, according to the Japanese newspaper. However, there were risks of fraudulent usage.

A source close to the credit card industry told the Mainichi, “Increasing the number of digits is the only real way to deal with the problem. There will likely be a shift toward increasing the number of digits in the first half of this decade.”

Costs regarding such a reform to the credit card system, however, may burden major companies. It is estimated that expenses would run between 10 billion and 100 billion yen (about $94.5 million to $945 million.)

The industry will likely be driven to take intricate measures as a reformed system may become complicated and may confuse consumers.