Akatsuki Electric Mfg. Starts Demonstration Experiment of Self-Service System for Charging Gift Certificates to E-Money

Akatsuki Electric Mfg. Co., Ltd., in collaboration with SB Systems and Maruto, has launched a demonstration experiment starting April 1, 2026, at Maruto stores in Fukushima. The system allows customers to independently charge paper gift certificates into the 'CoGCa' electronic money system using specialized reading and charging machines (AES-PRM and AES-GTR). This initiative aims to solve the operational bottlenecks of handling paper certificates at self-checkout registers, thereby reducing store labor costs and enhancing customer convenience. By digitizing the certificates, the system also expects to encourage repeat store visits and improve retail marketing data collection.