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Rail passengers at Tokyo and Yokohama stations in Japan can now order, collect and pay for coffee made by a six-armed AI-powered robot barista — known as Ella — at a fully automated contactless coffee shop... More
Commuters on JR East train services in the Tokyo metropolitan area who pay for their tickets using a commuter pass stored on their Suica transit card will receive additional JRE loyalty points for travelling outside peak times from March 2021... More
Three of Japan’s largest banking groups have signed up to participate in a study group that aims to build a “digital settlement infrastructure using valuable digital currencies”... More
JR East eyes introduction of ‘walkthrough’ ticket gates — The Mainichi — “East Japan Railway Co is looking to introduce ‘walkthrough’ ticket gates at stations that will enable passengers to access gates via a specialized smartphone application. Under the envisaged system, millimeter waves will be emitted from an antenna placed on the ceiling above a gate that will open once data sent from the passenger’s smartphone application has been received.”
Users of Japanese rail operator JR East’s Suica stored value transit cards will soon be able to start collecting loyalty points when they use their account to pay for their journeys — and will receive four times as many points when they use Suica to make a payment with their mobile phone rather than a plastic card... More
UPDATED J-Coin Pay, a digital currency-based payments service that will support both P2P payments and enable consumers to make QR mobile payments in stores, will go live in Japan on 1 March, developer Mizuho Financial Group has announced... More
A 20-page ebook that shows how developers and product designers are using NFC to deliver next generation user experiences in transportation, retail, marketing and product authentication, and the Internet of Things is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
Apple is promoting adoption of Apple Pay in Japan via a two month campaign that offers a wide range of rewards and benefits to consumers who choose to use the NFC payments service. More
Apple Pay is now live in Japan, enabling local iPhone and Apple Watch users to make payments in stores and on public transportation services that support the widely used Sony FeliCa-based Japanese NFC payments system... More
Apple has confirmed that its new flagship smartphones — the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus — and the second generation Apple Watch will be equipped with Sony FeliCa NFC technology... More
Google is collaborating with financial services giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group to launch its Android Pay mobile payment service in Japan this autumn... More
A new Nintendo Figurine Platform and a range of NFC toys that makes use of the NFC functionality in the Wii U GamePad is to be unveiled at the E3 games show next month, company president Satoru Iwata has announced. A standalone device that will enable NFC toys to be used with the Nintendo 3DS handheld console will also be introduced and NFC payments for games are to added, initially in Japan, from this summer. More
Making full use of the NFC functionality built into the Wii U GamePad is one of four strategies designed to boost the console’s flagging sales in the year ahead, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed — and plans call for NFC to be used to enhance game playing and for payments... More
Nintendo is looking at using the NFC functionality on the Wii U controller to let users make payments for games using contactless cards, as well as for interacting with NFC-enabled toys and cards, the company has revealed... More