The CoRRiENTE.top site reports a JP trademark bot tweet that shows Apple applied for Apple Card and Apple Cash trademarks in Japan on July 16, the trademark bot tweet itself is dated August 4. The application follows recent similar moves in Europe and other countries. The official launch of Apple Card in America is expected in the next week or so.
Japan will likely be unique in that Apple Card and Apple Cash in other countries will be EMV only, but FeliCa and EMV dual mode for Japanese digital issue. Mastercard, American Express and JCB already offer dual mode service for Japanese issue Apple Pay credit cards, which work well with NFC switching introduced in iOS 11 and global FeliCa iPhone/Apple Watch.
If Apple really wants to innovate with Apple Card, leverage the global NFC capabilities of iOS 13 and iPhone, and leave outdated single mode plastic credit card business practices in the past, they should go all in with dual mode Apple Card for all regions. After all it is Apple’s card, and virtual like the Apple Card tag line says, “Apple Card lives on your iPhone, in the Wallet app. And that makes all kinds of new things possible.”
Mastercard has been the most aggressive card company offering dual mode for Japanese Apple Pay card holders. Offering dual mode for virtual Apple Card customers everywhere can be done and would be one heck of an innovation for inbound visitors with iPhone and Apple Card for the Tokyo Olympics.
It will be interesting to see how Apple integrates Apple Card with the Japanese contactless payment networks: iD, QUICPay, and NFC Pay, how Apple Card/Apple Cash integrate with Suica Recharge and what kinds of reward points are offered.