At the end of last Suica 2.0 Platform Closeup installment I wrote:
What about Suica App?
To quote Steve Jobs, “What about it? It’s dead. Right?” Suica App is not dead but it will likely be reborn as a web based portal like app, just like Eki-Net and JRE POINT. Not pretty but focused on better Suica management by migrating all the ticket services to Eki-Net. One thing JR East desperately needs to update is the Suica Pocket recharge function. It needs to be streamlined and transformed into a simple one tap Mobile Suica 2.0 powered recharge feature that works across all Mobile Suica devices from smartphones to wearables.
The current incarnation of Suica App (aka Mobile Suica app) is indeed heading for the junk heap. Good riddance, right? We’ll soon find out because JR East announced their post 2027 ‘Beyond the Boarder’ roadmap for Suica App which will become, get this, an all purpose API layer. What does that mean, is it going to be an app or not? The first step towards Suica App 2.0 will be wrangling all those different services with different account IDs into a single sign-in service. This is supposed to be in place by 2027. And, if successful, the migration to Suica API will take place ‘from 2028’.
The JR East diagrams show more detail and lists JRE POINT as a ‘data platform’ , whatever that means, positioned at the foundation level.
JR’s Beyond the Boarder vision is shy with specifics but the most relevant bit outlined in red shows Suica at the center of all transit related services from eTickets to MaaS, with the ID PORT backend linking everything together using My Number and biometric verification. Sounds like iOS 18 Apple Wallet My Number ID will be coming just in time to do some serious work.
That’s way too much stuff to squeeze into an app or even an online site without overwhelming the user. Just take a look at the current incarnation of Eki-Net, the complexity of options sends customers running to the nearest JR ticket reservation office for real human service, the very thing JR East is trying to eliminate as much as possible, without much success I should add.
Visions are great but everything comes down to execution and making smart decisions to reduce complexity. The success of Suica comes down to simplicity and speed. JR East must keep that as their central vision, otherwise we’ll all be lost ‘beyond the border’.
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