Zentoshin Co., an Osaka-based credit card payment processor, filed for voluntary bankruptcy on July 6, with the Osaka District Court approving proceedings the same day. The company reported liabilities totaling approximately ¥125.9 billion, roughly $710 million to $778 million depending on the exchange rate. That makes it Japan’s largest corporate bankruptcy of 2026, and creditors are now scrambling to recover what they can.
It served around 200,000 merchants, predominantly small restaurants and retailers, offering early-payment services on credit card sales — advancing funds so small operators could pay suppliers, staff, and rent without waiting for credit card settlements.
What brought Zentoshin down
The collapse traces back to two compounding problems. First, the company never fully recovered from the revenue pressure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, in January 2024, employees were arrested in connection with fraudulent merchant contracts. The misconduct fundamentally damaged Zentoshin’s relationships with its creditors, the very institutions it needed to refinance its way through the revenue drought. When the banks stopped trusting the company’s books, the refinancing window slammed shut.
