Nov. 5--TOKYO -- Japan's largest Net shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. said Thursday it has agreed to invest 3 billion yen in bitWallet Inc., the operator of the Edy electronic money service, to turn it into a subsidiary.

Under the accord, Rakuten will purchase new shares to be floated next month by bitWallet and acquire an equity stake of more than 50 percent in it, it said.

Rakuten "will seek to strengthen the Edy-related business by gaining access to consumers who have actively taken advantage of the Edy service," it said, noting that the Edy is presently utilized at some 160,000 locations.

Rakuten, using its own large customer base, will seek to bolster the frequency, with which the electronic money is used for online payments, it said.

In addition, Rakuten will step up collaboration with Sony Corp., other members of the Sony group as well as business allies of bitWallet, it said.

The Sony group is currently the biggest shareholder of bitWallet, with Sony holding a stake of 12.76 percent and its subsidiary Sony Finance International Inc. owning 20.75 percent as of the end of September.

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