The first international NFC marketing service is to go live on 1 April, allowing customers of NTT Docomo and KT to collect and redeem special offers from NFC posters in both Japan and Korea — and payments and ticketing services as well as the participation of carriers in additional Asian countries are set to follow. More
Japan
NXP joins Japan’s move to NFC
The chip maker has followed Samsung in announcing it will work with FeliCa Networks to develop solutions that allow phones to work with both NFC and Japan’s existing Osaifu-Keitai mobile wallet service. More
Toppan adds NFC to Salesforce
The Japanese firm has developed a field service and asset management system that integrates with Salesforce, allowing data gathered by technicians reading NFC tags in the field to be automatically posted back to the CRM system. More
NFC shop opens in Tokyo
The world’s first physical retail store specialising in NFC has been opened in Yaesu, Tokyo... More
KDDI launches NFC in Japan
The mobile network operator will begin commercial NFC services from the end of January with partners including Japan Airlines, credit card issuers, loyalty programme providers and retailers. More
Japanese carriers form NFC consortium
NTT Docomo, KDDI and Softbank Mobile have set up the Japan Mobile NFC Consortium with the aim of working together to coordinate the switch from Japan’s existing Osaifu-Keitai non-NFC standard mobile payments system to NFC. More
Japan gets NFC Expresspay test
Japanese mobile network operator Softbank, card issuer Credit Saison and American Express have teamed up with NFC technology providers Dai Nippon Printing and Gemalto to test SIM-based NFC payments on Android phones... More
Google tests NFC in Tokyo
The search giant has distributed custom NFC base stations to merchants in Tokyo’s Roppongi district that let shoppers rate and review merchants — and allow Google to serve recommendations on additional locations based on the places consumers say they like. More
10% of Japanese consumers made a purchase with their mobile wallet in December
Analysis by Comscore for its 2010 Mobile Year in Review has found that just under 10% of Japanese mobile subscribers made a purchase with their mobile wallet during December 2010... More
Japanese social network Mixi introduces NFC check-ins
Leading Japanese social network Mixi, which has more than 21 million members, has become the first social network to offer users the ability to check into locations using near field communication... More
KDDI, Softbank, SK Telecom begin testing joint NFC services for Japanese and Korean consumers
The three mobile network operators, who signed an NFC cooperation agreement in July 2010, are to begin testing a number of cross-border NFC services this month with the aim of launching commercial services by the end of 2011. More
NTT Docomo partners with Korea’s KT to switch to NFC at end of 2012
Mobile network operator NTT Docomo, the driving force behind Japan’s Osaifu-Keitai mobile wallet service, has confirmed that it will make the move to NFC standard technology from “around the end of 2012”, in partnership with Korea’s KT. More
Softbank stickers bring mobile payments to iPhone 4 in Japan
The Japanese mobile network operator is to provide a range of stickers compatible with the Edy, Waon and Nanaco payments services from February, enabling iPhone 4 users to make use of Japan’s well established mobile payments services for the first time. More
Softbank to test NFC in Japan
Softbank Mobile has partnered with credit card issuers Credit Saison and Orient Corporation to test NFC on HTC Android smartphones equipped with a SIM+antenna solution and mobile wallet software. More
NTT Docomo adds NFC tag reading to wide range of mobile phones
NTT Docomo has begun the world’s first mass market deployment of mobile phones with NFC tag reading capabilities. Sixteen of the operator’s new range of mobile phones and a number of existing handsets will be able to perform both Osaifu-Keitai mobile contactless payments functions and NFC tag reading from next week. More
KDDI, Softbank Mobile and SK Telecom to introduce NFC standard services in Japan and Korea
The three mobile network operators are to move away from the non-NFC mobile contactless technologies they currently support in favour of an NFC standard solution. More
NTT adds new mobile marketing capabilities to Japan’s Osaifu-Keitai mobile wallet service
NTT Communications has launched a new service that enables businesses to offer a range of mobile marketing services to users of Japan’s Osaifu-Keitai mobile wallet service... More
Gemalto provides KDDI with end-to-end NFC security solution
Gemalto has provided further details of the role it is playing in Japanese mobile network operator KDDI‘s extensive NFC field test, which went live last month... More
KDDI to run multiple NFC tests in Japan
The mobile network operator has partnered with card issuers, airlines, a cinema chain, a car manufacturer and others to run a series of tests of NFC standard technology and aims to introduce NFC services “in the near future”. More
One of the players must take on the risk before NFC can succeed, says founder of Japanese mobile wallet
Carl Atsushi Hirano, the driving force behind the introduction five years ago of Japan’s Osaïfu Keitai mobile wallet service, has set out his thinking on what was required to make the service a success and what it will take to successfully introduce NFC services in other countries. More