SoftBank : “Work From Anywhere at Anytime (WFA)”, a New Workstyle at PayPay

Press Release

Aug 5, 2020

PayPay Corporation

"Work From Anywhere at Anytime (WFA)", a New Workstyle at PayPay

~ A new workstyle that gives the freedom to excel by working from anywhere at any time ~

PayPay Corporation, a joint venture between Softbank Group Corp., Softbank Corp. and Yahoo Japan Corporation, is pleased to announce a new workstyle "Work From Anywhere at Anytime (WFA)" which will be implemented throughout the organization as of September 1, 2020.

"Work From Anywhere at Anytime (WFA)" is a new way of working, which allows working from anywhere in Japan at any time, as long as the environment enables maintaining a high performance. WFA not only reduces the risk of being infected by COVID-19, but also achieves an efficient workstyle that can be adapted to different situations, while ensuring the safety of employees such as in the event of a disaster. In addition, PayPay has taken the implementation of WFA as an opportunity to redefine the "office" and will be relocating to a new office building in late September. WFA will be continued even after COVID-19 settles down, in a continuous effort to create a better workstyle at PayPay.

• What is WFA?

Until today, work at PayPay basically meant working in the office. Desk work, meetings, business negotiations, etc., all happened in the office. With the exception of particular duties that need to be carried

out in the office, WFA will allow employees to work according to the "work from home principle" which entails working from anywhere in Japan, whether it be from home, a café, a library, or other public facilities, so long as they can maintain a high performance without hindrance (*1). To make sure employees who find it difficult to work from home have a place to work on their tasks, new satellite offices in addition to the 20 sales offices existing across the country will be made available and "work-ations" during trips or when staying with family will also be allowed to further increase the freedom of work. PayPay had already supported a "super flex system (*2)" to maximize work efficiencies, but with WFA, an even newer workstyle to excel will be achieved by removing not only the constraint on time but also space. Preparations are being made to extend WFA out to a global level as well.

• Redefining the "Office"

Upon implementing WFA, the "office" was redefined from being a place for individuals to work on their tasks to a place where new value is created through teamwork and where employee engagement is strengthened. Based on this new definition, the office will be relocated in late September, where there will be spaces for active communication and no fixed seating plans, in addition to the significant reduction in the number of desks (the details of the new office will be announced at a later date).

New rules & measures will be implemented in accordance with WFA: ・A "work from home" allowance

JPY 100,000 (*3), per employee per year towards preparing an environment to work from home. ・Commuting allowance

Commuter's passes will no longer be paid for; reimbursement will happen based on actual expenses. ・Digitization

Paper documents such as contracts and financial documents will be digitized so that they can be processed without having to come into the office.

Other measures necessary for WFA will be rolled out progressively.

As COVID-19 continues to spread, approximately 90% of the employees at PayPay have been working from home since April 2020, where both internal & external meetings, including sales activities, internal training sessions and hiring activities are being done online. As such, keeping the safety of employees and all related personnel first in mind, the development of the "PayPay" service has been continued, including the launch of a new service "PayPay Pickup" amongst others, and as a result, there are now more than 2.3 million available locations provided by merchants (*4) and over 30 million registered users on a cumulative basis (*5).

Through shifting to WFA, PayPay will continue on the path to evolve into a "Super App" that makes users' lives richer and more convenient, by further expanding on features and services that can be provided only by PayPay.

＜Comments from CEO Ichiro Nakayama, President & Representative Director＞

Keeping the safety of PayPay employees and partners first in mind, we reviewed different workstyles in which we could perform best - that was the context in which this new personnel was adopted.

Our lives will continue to face changes brought about by COVID-19 but due to other aspects as well. To ensure that the growth of our business does not slow down, to ensure that we can provide a service that is indispensable in our users' day-to-day lives, we will start by changing the way we work.

"We will not return to our former workstyle". Our goal is to continue on our path of evolution to become a leading company that provides an innovative service through the experience of making a "payment".

• About PayPay

Please check our blog that introduces how we work at PayPay, our culture, employee profiles, and episodes about the development work. Refer to the link below:

• PayPay Inside-Out（Corporate Blog）：https://about.paypay.ne.jp/corporate-blog
• Product Blog：https://blog.paypay.ne.jp

*1 On the basis that security is ensured as well as the safety of employees.

*2 Work hours can be set between 5am to 10 pm. Some duties may require work outside of this time frame. *3 Employees can use the allowance in any way.

*4 The number of merchant applications for "PayPay" made by stores and taxis, as of June 29, 2020.

*5 The number of users who registered their account after downloading the PayPay app, as of June 29, 2020.

• Primary Features of "PayPay"

PayPay is a cashless payment service that continues to expand across Japan, available not only in major chain stores but also at small to medium scale retail stores, vending machines, taxis and even public transport. It is also available in various other scenarios including payments for online services and bill payments such as utility costs. PayPay has also expanded its breadth to services other than just payments, such as the "send/receive" feature that enables users to send PayPay balance (PayPay Money and PayPay Money Lite) between each other for free, or "bonus management" service which enables a simulated investment experience. PayPay also strives to create an environment that ensures a safe & convenient user experience, through measures such as providing a hotline where inquiries are accepted 24/7, and providing full compensation, in principle, in the event that the user is caused any damages.

• Company names, product, and service names mentioned in this press release are registered trademarks or trademarks of the respective companies.