JR East released a mobile version of their somewhat perplexing Welcome Suica card for foreign visitors: Welcome Suica Mobile app for iPhone.
But here’s the thing, Welcome Suica app is marketing smoke and mirrors. It doesn’t have any new functionality, instead it recycles some Apple Pay Suica functions that has been in place since 2016, wrapped in a differently branded app aimed at tourists. Welcome Suica Mobile also limits both functionality and ease of use. Suica App Lite if you will, a subset of regular Suica services with multilingual support (only English for now), a few one day pass in-app purchase options (basically one day commuter passes) and a link with JR East Train Reservation.
Nothing new, but an English language all-in-one app does makes it somewhat easier to find some options that were scattered on different web sites or hidden away in Japanese apps. And there is one new not so good thing Welcome Suica Mobile has that regular Suica app does not: a iOS Location Services requirement. Here’s the comparison chart:
Welcome Suica mobile works exactly like Apple Pay Suica but with a limited 180 day validity period, longer than the 28 day plastic version, and a no refund policy. Upon expiration, any remaining Stored Fare balance on the card goes ‘poof’, joining that great big Suica float on the JR East balance sheet. The biggest downside compared to regular Apple Pay Suica is the 180 day limit, it doesn’t make sense for inbound visitors to add Welcome Suica Mobile until just before the trip or on arrival. There is also a device profile difference: the base Welcome Suica Mobile requirement is iPhone XS/XR and later with iOS 17.2 or later. This is Apple’s 2nd generation Power Reserve Secure Element platform and the iOS 17.2 requirement is related to the VISA payment network block of Apple Pay Suica.
iOS Location Services requirement for initial provisioning
Pay close attention to the Location Services requirement, the JR East website states iOS Location Services must be turned on and is: 1) Used to determine if money can be added with the Apple Pay card, 2) Laws and regulations in some countries may not allow you to set up and add value on the app until after arriving in Japan. The Welcome Suica Mobile app uses your iPhone location to determine if you are in an approved preflight OK to add Suica country. If not you have to wait until you arrive in Japan to add Welcome Suica. Check the list of countries where users can add cards and money. The regular Japanese Suica app does not use Location Services but VISA strong armed Apple into implement Apple Pay Enhanced Fraud Prevention. The VISA payment network uses Location Services and Apple Pay Enhanced Fraud Prevention to limit certain types of purchases to the device location. Mastercard and AMEX are much more forgiving and don’t appear to use Apple Pay Enhanced Fraud Prevention.
Who is this for anyway?
If Apple Pay Suica has been around so long, who and what is Welcome Suica Mobile for? Look no further than any Japan travel related thread on Reddit. You’ll find the same endlessly repeated questions: do I need a Suica card and where can I get one. One reason behind the confusion was the year long Suica card shortage and limited availability of plastic cards. The shortage is long over but JR East is encouraging users to go mobile anyway. Mobile cut costs and reduces plastic card inventory stress. However, a large number of inbound visitors have never used a transit card before (Americans no doubt) and don’t consider ‘out of the box’ built in functionality like Apple Pay Suica because it’s not a smartphone app.
People are addicted to smartphone apps with an entrenched ‘there’s an app for that’ mentality which means people don’t search beyond the App Store, if that. The problem for JR East is that even though Suica is built into Apple Wallet, inbound visitors don’t know it’s there. No mobile app means people don’t bother going mobile, or worse, they end up downloading and wrangling with the completely unnecessary Japanese language only Suica App.
To solve this problem JR East marketing folks came up with Welcome Suica Mobile app that combines Suica with a few pass options, JR East Train Reservation connectivity and a Welcome Suica Mobile English support FAQ site. Voilà, a shiny new all-in-one transit app package, though we don’t get the complete version until 2026. Open the app, add Welcome Suica, buy the passes you want, look up info in the JR East Train Reservation tab and be on your way. No more mandatory visit to the nearest JR East Travel Service Center, JR ticket reservation office or station ticket vending machine. In theory anyway.
Welcome Suica Mobile app automatically adds the JR East Touch ‘n Go Shinkansen option for on-the-go non-revered seats on any JR East Shinkansen. Advance eTickets require the full card number to link Welcome Suica with JR East Train Reservation and smartEX Shinkansen eTicket services. Welcome Suica cannot be added directly in Wallet, only via the Welcome Suica Mobile app. If the inbound crowd is fixated on apps, best to do everything in an app I guess.
Welcome Suica Mobile app offers Greater Tokyo area one day passes for in-app purchase. Other passes are available for separate purchase via the Travel Info button and can be linked to the Welcome Suica card. Starting 2025-10-01 Welcome Suica Mobile will add JR East Shinkansen eTicket reservations and express ticket reservations for Narita Express, FUJI EXCURSION, Azusa and Kaiji express trains. More express trains will be added in following months. By early 2026 Suica Green Seat tickets will added as well.
Inbound Android users are still out of luck and stuck with using plastic transit cards until Google Pixel gets its global NFC act together, but in 2026 Eki-Net QR ticketing will be up and running across the entire JR East rail network. There will likely be a JR East Train Reservation QR inbound option added to at that time. JR Rail Pass purchase and reservations will also be available at, some, JR East station ticket vending machines in the same time frame.
Missing Links
Welcome Suica Mobile takes care of some things (JR East passes and ticketing) for some people (iPhone users) but there is no explanation of how it connects in the larger scheme of Japanese transit for inbound short term visitors. Are the various PASMO only passes coming to Welcome Suica now that PASMO PASSPORT is disappearing this August? What about integration with smartEX, or JR West rail passes, etc.?
The all in one approach of Welcome Suica Mobile in a multilingual app is a step in the right direction for inbound visitors with an iPhone but long term success depends on how seamlessly various separate services are integrated for easy use, and Android support too, to get travelers to their final destination. For most people however, Apple Pay Suica in Wallet app is a much better way to go.
You must be logged in to post a comment.