[JTND] More on Suica and IC Cards

[Matatabi Report <editor@matatabi.com>]

[My family doctor has an office in Osaki and I go to Starbucks Cafe
and the supermarket in the Osaki Gate City regularly. I didn't know
Edy was widely accepted there. I now have an excuse to play with
Edy. Thanks Martyn. --naoki]

>>>On Thu, 6 Mar 2003 16:11:19 +0900
>>>In the message "Re: [JTND] East JR Turns Suica IC Card into Electric Wallet"
>>>Martyn_Williams@idg.com wrote:

> Suica and Edy are really interesting and this is also an interesting
> development.

> In Hong Kong the Octopus card -- which is based on Sony's Felica smart card
> like Suica and Edy -- has successfully moved beyond the subway and is now
> accepted in many stores and for things like paying for parking meters. In
> Japan Sony is trying to start its own payment system with Edy and now it
> seems JR is pushing Suica into the same territory.

> Technically, there is no reason why one card cannot carry both Edy and
> Suica cash and applications -- the cards can hold up to 40 applications --
> but regulations are blocking that right now. Sony's problem with Edy is
> that it is not widely accepted so not many people have them, although the
> company is looking at convenience stores (AM/PM is already accepting it)
> and targeting buildings, like the Gate City Osaki complex where most shops
> accept it.

> The strength of Suica is the more than 6 million cards already in wallets
> as travel cards. This is the same thing that propelled Octopus in Hong Kong
> and it could happen here although I think the best chance such a system has
> is if all Felica card issuers agree that their cards will host the
> applications of others, then you could load Edy onto a JR card and both
> would benefit. JR West is also adopting Felica as are private railways in
> Osaka and, I think, the Tokyo private railways have also agreed to use it,
> but at present all on different cards.

> There are several credit card companies, banks and KDDI and NTT DoCoMo
> partnered on Edy and this week Visa agreed to work with Sony on noncontact
> smart card systems so all the pieces are falling into place.

> As its all the same base technology, I think this could take off and be big
> in a few years especially if everyone can get along!

> Regards,

> Martyn
> --
> Martyn Williams
> Tokyo Correspondent
> IDG News Service
> martyn@idg.com
> phone 03-5800-5261, fax 03-5800-3590
> cellular (Japan) 090-8336-2882
> cellular (GSM) +81-80-3000-3000
> AIM idgnstokyo

[key_computing]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matatabi Report:Japan Tech News Digest is the mailing list of
information technology news and critique from Japan. 
To subscribe: <http://www.matatabi.com/info/subscription.html> 
This message is archived at <http://www.matatabi.com/>