Messaging company Line announced it would pump JPY20 billion ($182 million) into its Line Pay mobile wallet subsidiary.

The investment was revealed in a Line filing to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, although no other details were provided.

Its capital increase comes shortly after Line Pay announced it was set to launch a physical credit card in partnership with Visa, and as SoftBank-backed rival PayPay becomes increasingly bullish about its prospects in the Japanese market.

Line Pay launched in Japan in December 2014 and is now also available in three other markets (an operation in Singapore closed in 2018).

During 2018, it processed JPY1 trillion worth of transactions across its footprint, an increase of 126 per cent on 2017.

Its footprint of merchants accepting payments from the app reached 1.33 million at the end of 2018 with the system able to process transactions through QR codes, NFC or a Line debit card, depending on the user’s handset and preferences.