Rakuten Link is becoming the gateway to Rakuten’s Ecosystem

One app for calling, another for messages, yet another for billing – mobile carriers have historically struggled with fragmented user experiences. Rakuten Mobile, however, is pushing things in a new direction.

The Rakuten Link app has undergone a steady evolution since its launch in 2020 as a communication tool to enable free domestic calls. With the recent integration of Rakuten AI and a comprehensive architectural overhaul, it is evolving beyond a communications app into the gateway to the Rakuten Ecosystem.

In July 2026, this evolution reaches a major milestone: Rakuten Link is absorbing all of the functions previously housed in the standalone my Rakuten Mobile app, consolidating communications, account management and access to Rakuten services in a single interface. As Aya Yamada of the Rakuten Link team explained during a recent media event: “Rakuten Link brings together calling, messaging, AI, contract management, and access to ecosystem services – all in one place.”

Link, meet Ecosystem

“Rakuten’s greatest strength is the Rakuten Ecosystem, which allows users to access over 70 services with a single ID,” noted Rakuten Group’s Koji Yamada. “We have over 100 million members, with a cross-use rate of nearly 77%.”

Since the beginning, Rakuten Mobile has had a significant impact on Rakuten’s network of services, acting as a catalyst for cross-service engagement. Mobile forms a key pillar of the Super Point Up (SPU) program, earning subscribers up to four times the standard points, and translating to a 1.5x increase in shopping revenue per user.

Masashi Watanabe of Rakuten Group’s Marketing Division highlighted the importance of an app like Link for the SPU program. “In the past, users might have only taken part in the SPU program when they shopped on Rakuten Ichiba or traveled using Rakuten Travel,” he explained. “But mobile phone services are used on a daily basis. Rakuten Link, with its primary focus on calls and messaging, is a natural daily touchpoint.”

Supercharged with Rakuten AI

The Rakuten Link interface is now heavily personalized to the preferences of each individual user. Targeted campaigns, recommended products, and a unified search bar seamlessly bridge Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Books, Rakuma, Rakuten Fashion, Rakuten 24, and Hometown Tax. The app also features official business accounts, allowing merchants to connect directly with consumers. 

This careful content curation is yielding significant traffic dividends, Koji Yamada revealed: “In December last year, the number of referrals from Rakuten Link to Rakuten Group services exceeded 50 million per month, and this figure continues to grow year over year.”

Binding these different experiences together is Rakuten AI, which has served as a conversational consultation partner within Rakuten Link’s chat interface since 2024. As of May 2026, Rakuten AI has closed the gap between communication and commerce, enabling users to query information across Rakuten’s retail, travel, and secondary markets.

“By combining Rakuten Mobile with other Rakuten Group services,” Yamada continued, “we aim to make everyday life more convenient and rewarding for our customers.”

Elevating the core calling experience

Even with all this new functionality, Rakuten Link remains fundamentally a calling app – and this underlying infrastructure has also been given significant upgrades. Recent technical enhancements have improved call quality by 26% for Link-to-Link connections and 16% for calls made to other carriers, explained Tatsumi Watanabe.

“We improved the stability of network connections during calls while on the move and in areas between base stations, enhanced our voice encryption technology, and strengthened the noise-canceling function.”

Members of the Rakuten Link team have also been out in the field to verify these improvements for themselves: “From busy train stations to airports, I’ve personally run multiple tests,” reported Tatsumi Watanabe. “And no matter who I called, the people on the other end consistently told me the quality had noticeably improved.”

These core quality improvements have not altered Rakuten Link’s value proposition: the app still offers completely free domestic calls, even when dialing landlines or non-app users, as well as free calls to Japan from overseas. Behind the scenes, ongoing enhancements to its communications technology stack, including Rich Communication Services (RCS), help deliver reliable, high-quality calling while keeping these services free for users.

Rakuten Link also remains the only carrier-provided calling app in Japan accessible natively on a PC. This cross-platform availability, combined with direct access to Rakuten AI, ensures that the app remains an interactive gateway to the greater ecosystem, whether at the desk or on the move.

Masashi Watanabe summed up Rakuten Mobile’s ultimate vision for Link: “Our goal is for subscribers to use Rakuten Link as a seamless and comfortable gateway to Rakuten services. We want Rakuten Link to serve as that entry point into the broader Rakuten world.”