What happens when Japan’s biggest marketplace decides to reinvent finance from the inside out?

In this episode of What The FinTech, Medhy Souidi sits down with Takeshi Nagasawa, the visionary CEO of Fintech at Mercari Group—the force behind Merpay and Mercoin, two of Japan’s most impactful financial platforms.

From embedding credit into mobile payments to launching one of the most trusted crypto exchanges in Japan, Takeshi shares how Mercari is not just a platform to sell your old sneakers—but a launchpad for transforming how money works in everyday life.

🔍 What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How Merpay Smart Money is helping unbanked and underbanked users access credit using behavioral data
• Why Japan’s fintech ecosystem is evolving slower—but smarter—and what others can learn from it
• Behind-the-scenes of Mercoin’s meteoric rise and how crypto is being integrated into loyalty and daily payments
• What it takes to innovate responsibly in one of the most compliance-conscious markets in the world

💡 Whether you're curious about embedded finance, crypto adoption, mobile wallets, or the future of fintech in Japan and beyond—this episode is packed with insights, strategy, and leadership lessons from one of the region’s top innovators.

👉 Don’t miss this deep dive into marketplace-driven finance and the next wave of consumer fintech.Hit play, subscribe, and let’s rethink the future of money together.

#WhatTheFinTech #WTF82 #Merpay #Mercari #Money2020 #Fintech #Crypto #DigitalPayments #JapanFintech🎙️ Interviewee: Takeshi Nagasawa, CEO of Fintech at Mercari Group🎙️ Host: Medhy Souidi