Dear Jennifer,
Congratulations on the success of Apple Pay in Japan! The success is all Suica of course, but it was a very smart move and Apple Pay has transformed the Japanese payments market like the arrival of Commodore Perry’s Black Ships. The market is a hot fun mess with plenty of opportunities. Here is another one.
I love coffee. So do Japanese. In Suginami City Tokyo, coffee shops, cafes and kissaten are always packed with people spending money who don’t like Starbucks. No doubt you know that Starbucks continues to stonewall Apple Pay here, but there is a nice end-around play to win that game. Did you see today’s news announcements from Docomo and Doutor that starting June 3 Docomo d POINT rewards will be given and accepted at all Doutor Coffee shops? That looks boring but believe me, it’s huge.
It’s very simple: cut a deal with Docomo and put a contactless version of the d POINT rewards card on Apple Wallet, just like PONTA. Don’t stop there. Put the Doutor prepaid card on Wallet too. After all it’s just MIFARE like the Student ID cards, and since Doutor is putting out a Dotour App for card online recharging on April 22, the backend system is in place for a Wallet version.
With those cards in Wallet, lots people who have not used Apple Pay in Japan would start using Apple Pay. Kind of like Apple Pay Suica for coffee lovers who don’t use Suica. It would be cool and cutting edge for customers to earn d POINT rewards at Dotour Coffee Shops just by paying with Apple Pay, again just like earning PONTA rewards at Lawson. But reward points for drinking coffee is the real incentive, and the payoff. I guarantee it would strengthen your hand with Starbucks in a big way, and help Docomo sell more iPhones. That would make both Docomo and Tim very happy.
Think about it. Seriously.
Love and Kisses,
Ata Distance
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