The Mobile PASMO trademark registration made on Apple event day is very interesting. PASMO is on record with Japanese IT journalist Junya Suzuki saying that they do not have any budget to build a service like Mobile Suica. This means that if they have a trademark registered, they also have a partner lined up to provide such a service. In Tokyo town that means JR East.
There is something else. The iOS 11.1 beta breaks Apple Pay Suica. This suggests Apple is changing or modifying code that controls NFC functions. There is also the major Apple Pay and Mobile Suica service downtime in late August~early September that suggests serious reconfiguration.
This is a long shot but I am putting it out there: we might see Mobile PASMO service debut on Apple Pay with iOS 11.1 and iPhone X.
PASMO is clearly planning something. Better sooner than later.
Update: Japanese twitter users digging into the Mobile PASMO filing uncover mention of a mobile (LTE/4G) watch. What kind of watch might that be? 😜
Update 2: IT Journalist Junya Suzuki contacted PASMO (Seibu Railway) this morning, October 4. PASMO confirmed the application but had no details for a service launch. Translation: plans are in place but they are not ready to say anything more. If it doesn’t happen with iOS 11.1, March 2018 is the next target window.
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