Hama Pay 
NFC is Wallet 
QR is Hama Pay app, but how long before it can join the NFC card in iOS 14 Wallet?
The recent Bank of Yokohama Hama Pay app update created some buzz with the addition of an Apple Pay iD Prepaid card option. It’s similar to the Toyota Wallet approach: the bank app links the user’s bank account to an open front end bank payment service with QR code payment for debit and credit and NFC payment for prepaid.
The difference with the Hama Pay prepaid card is that VISA JP issues the iD card which means it cannot be used internationally the same way that the Toyota Wallet Mastercard iD card can; Mastercard supports iOS NFC switching, VISA JP does not.
Another weird thing: the Hama Pay ad blurb uses the ‘Touch Payment’ branding phrase with iD. Up until now VISA JP reserved that exclusively for EMV contactless card issue but not for FeliCa cards, which of course iD is. Does this mean VISA JP will finally sign with Apple Pay? Probably not.
IT journalists approach the story as a NFC vs QR dilemma for banks, but I don’t think this captures the whole story. iOS 14 Apple Pay is adding QR code payments for the first time and this means that QR Code Wallet payments don’t need to launch an app, they will work directly from the lock screen just like any Apple Pay card.
This represents a big evolution of Apple Pay from NFC only to an open front end approach that includes NFC, Code payments and Ultra Wideband. It will be very interesting to see how bank apps evolve in the iOS 14 era as we move away from the plastic era ‘A vs B’ mind set to the bewildering variety of ‘A~Z take your pick’ era of mobile payments. We still have the Apple Pay/Face ID with face mask passcode nonsense…but that’s another post for another day.
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