TOKYO - Major trading house Marubeni Corp. is acquiring a stake in an e-money platform joint venture for seafarers between shipping firm NYK Line and Philippine-based conglomerate Transnational Diversified Group.

Marubeni has agreed with NYK Line and TDG to engage in the business of the Manila-based startup, MarCoPay Inc., for seamen who are heavily dependent on cash while on duty, as are their families.

Details of the deal were not disclosed, including how much the investment costs and how much stake the trader is acquiring.

Marubeni is making its first foray into the e-money business for ocean-vessel crew members with its stake in MarCoPay, the operator of the namesake platform for such functions as salary receipt, remittances, loan applications and insurance product purchases via a smartphone application.

"We believe that combining the MarCoPay e-money platform and our diversified business interests can generate synergy effects," a Marubeni official told NNA, referring to its latest investment decision with respect to the 2-year-old company.

The Philippines is one of the world's leading suppliers of crew members for foreign fleets.

In an effort to help expand the mobility of MarCoPay's services, Marubeni plans to explore opportunities to offer its resources in multiple business fields including the financial, medical and communications sectors in collaboration with NYK Line and TDG.

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