Operating expenses for the Payment segment increased by ¥28,824 million, or 13.2%, from ¥217,898 million for the year ended March 31, 2025 to ¥246,722 million for the year ended March 31, 2026. The increase in operating expenses was lower than the rate of revenue growth, reflecting operating leverage in our business model. While point expenses, settlement related cost, employee benefit expenses, and other operating expenses increased by ¥9,833 million, ¥4,172 million, ¥3,806 million, and 4,770 million respectively. The increase of point expense as well as settlement related cost of payment segment resulted from increase in Payment Segment GMV. The increase in employee benefit expenses is due to higher average number of headcounts for the year ended March 31, 2026.
As a result of the foregoing, segment profit for the Payment segment amounted to ¥64,495 million for the year ended March 31, 2026, compared with a segment profit of ¥30,356 million for the year ended March 31, 2025.
Financial Service Segment
Total revenue for the Financial service segment increased by ¥18,726 million, or 25.9%, from ¥53,640 million for the year ended March 31, 2025 to ¥72,366 million for the year ended March 31, 2026. The increase was due mainly to an increase in transaction and service income from external customers of ¥3,273 million, or 12.1%, to ¥30,271 million for the year ended March 31, 2026, from ¥26,998 million for the year ended March 31, 2025, which reflected an increase in the number of deposit accounts and increase of ancillary banking and platform usage fees from PayPay Bank Corporation. Interest income increased by ¥12,855 million, or 64.9%, to ¥32,674 million for the year ended March 31, 2026, compared to ¥19,819 million for the year ended March 31, 2025, reflecting primarily the expansion of loan balances, the end of the Bank of Japan’s negative interest rate policy in early 2024 and the subsequent rise in benchmark rates and bond yields, as well as a reduction in the external guarantee fee rate effective from the quarter ended December 31, 2025.
Operating expenses for the Financial service segment increased by ¥8,293 million, or 17.1%, from ¥48,486 million for the year ended March 31, 2025 to ¥56,779 million for the year ended March 31, 2026. The increase was due mainly to an increase of ¥4,719 million in interest expenses due to higher interest rate and the increased balance of deposits. Employee benefit expenses also increased by ¥2,366 million due to an increase in headcount.
As a result of the foregoing, segment profit for the Financial service segment amounted to ¥15,587 million for the year ended March 31, 2026, compared with a segment profit of ¥5,154 million for the year ended March 31, 2025.
Comparison of the Year Ended March 31, 2025 with the Year Ended March 31, 2024
Payment Segment
Total revenue for the Payment segment increased by ¥36,947 million, or 17.5%, from ¥211,307 million for the year ended March 31, 2024 to ¥248,254 million for the year ended March 31, 2025. The increase in total revenue was primarily driven by transaction and service income from external customers, which increased by ¥27,287 million, or 18.3%, from ¥149,310 million for the year ended March 31, 2024 to ¥176,597 million for the year ended March 31, 2025. This increase was supported by the steady growth of GMV associated with PayPay Balance payments, which in turn reflected both an increase in MTUs and higher GMV per MTU.
Operating expenses for the Payment segment increased by ¥2,813 million, or 1.3%, from ¥215,084 million for the year ended March 31, 2024 to ¥217,898 million for the year ended March 31, 2025. The moderate increase in operating expenses resulted from our continuous efforts on cost control. While point expenses, settlement related cost and employee benefit expenses increased by ¥4,960 million, ¥2,985 million and ¥2,003 million, respectively, in line with business growth, these increases were offset by a decrease of ¥6,569 million in professional and outsourcing services expenses, due primarily to reduced outsourcing of sales and system development service. Instead, we utilized our own resources.
As a result of the foregoing, segment profit for the Payment segment amounted to ¥30,356 million for the year ended March 31, 2025, compared with a segment loss of ¥3,777 million for the year ended March 31, 2024.
Financial Service Segment
Total revenue for the Financial service segment increased by ¥7,432 million, or 16.1%, from ¥46,208 million for the year ended March 31, 2024 to ¥53,640 million for the year ended March 31, 2025. The increase was due mainly to (a) an increase in transaction and service income from external customers of ¥2,181 million, or 8.8%, to ¥26,998 million for the year ended March 31, 2025, from ¥24,817 million for the year ended March 31, 2024, which reflected an increase of ancillary banking and platform usage fees from PayPay Bank Corporation, and (b) an increase in interest income of ¥4,948 million, or 33.3%, to ¥19,819 million for the year ended March 31, 2025, compared to ¥14,871 million for the year ended March 31, 2024, reflecting primarily the expansion of loan balances, as well as the