Suica and PASMO are prepaid transit cards for nationwide transit use in Japan and super fast cashless purchases at stores, vending machines, restaurants and more. Anybody with iPhone 8 • Apple Watch 3 and later can add and use Suica or PASMO in Wallet app. Enjoy the benefits of mobile transit and payments in Japan thanks to Apple Pay Global NFC support.
Add Suica or PASMO to Wallet
Requirements
- iPhone 8 • Apple Watch 3 and later, updated to the latest iOS • watchOS.
- Apple Pay payment card already in Wallet for adding money to Suica • PASMO. Set up Apple Pay with a payment card if you are not using Apple Pay. Credit-debit-prepaid payment cards issued in your home country work fine, latest info and updates here.
- Apple ID set up for two-factor authentication.
- Outside of the 1 am~5 am JST Mobile Suica • Mobile PASMO system maintenance window.
- Robust network connection.
A Suica or PASMO card can only exist on a single device, if you have iPhone and Apple Watch choose the one you want be your Suica • PASMO device. You can easily transfer the card between a paired iPhone and Apple Watch.
Add a plastic card to Wallet
Have your Suica or PASMO card ready and the last 4 digits of the ID number on the back. Suica cards issued by Tokyo Monorail or Rinkai cannot be transferred to Apple Pay. Follow instructions and screenshots below for iOS 15 and later:
- Open iPhone or Apple Watch Wallet App and tap the Add button “+” (iPhone Wallet) or “Add Card” (Apple Watch Wallet), tap Continue, tap Transit, Tap Suica or PASMO, tap Continue, tap Transfer Existing Card.
- Enter the last 4 digits of the Suica•PASMO ID number.
- If transferring My Suica/registered PASMO or Commuter Suica•PASMO enter your date of birth.
- Transfer the card by resting the top of your iPhone on the middle of the card and leave without moving it, this may take a few minutes to complete.
- The ¥500 card deposit is automatically added to the balance when the transfer is successfully completed.
- You cannot use a plastic Suica•PASMO card after transferring it to iPhone or Apple Watch. The card number will also be changed. If your plastic Suica or PASMO card was registered for any linked services such as EX • smartEX • Eki-Net eTickets see the Linked Services section below to get the new card number.
Move card to Apple Watch
Transfer Suica • PASMO from iPhone or vice versa with Watch app. See “Move your Suica or PASMO from your iPhone to your Apple Watch” in Add a transit card to Apple Wallet support page for details. You cannot transfer a card between devices during a transit.
Add Money/Recharge with Apple Pay
Recharge a Suica or PASMO with Apple Pay, anywhere on the go, it’s the best thing about going digital:
- Tap Suica•PASMO card in Wallet.
- Tap Add Money.
- Choose the amount, tap Add.
- Pay with Apple Pay: select the card you want to pay from and use Face ID/Touch ID to pay. Apple Pay credit/debit/prepaid card already in Wallet including cards issued in your home country work fine but some cards might not support Apple Pay in-app purchases. See Apple Pay Japan Card Guide for details.
Add Money/Recharge with Cash
Suica•PASMO can be recharged with Japanese cash. This is the best option for inbound visitors without an Apple Pay credit/debit card or from a country where Apple Pay is not available yet:
- Convenience Store Recharge: recharge at any convenience store cash register. Tell the store clerk “Suica/PASMO Charge”, and follow checkout screen instructions as shown on the Recharge page.
- Station Smart-Charge Kiosk: available in Tokyo area train and Metro stations shown on the Recharge page. Place iPhone or Apple Watch in the blue reader bin, select the amount of money you want to add on the touch screen and feed some bills to start the process, The blue bin flashes red while the kiosk recharges Apple Pay Suica, then turns blue again when done.
- 7-Eleven ATM Cash Recharge: 7-Eleven ATMs are plentiful and open 24 hours.
See Suica • PASMO Recharge for details.
Add a zero balance PASMO
If you don’t have an Apple Pay payment card that works for adding money you can create a zero balance PASMO. Add a new PASMO in Wallet without any Apple Pay credit card with PASMO App. Download and open PASMO App, follow the screenshots to add an unregistered PASMO card to Wallet with a ¥0 balance. Add a balance with cash and use Apple Pay PASMO without credit card recharge.
Express Transit Mode
Apple Pay Express Transit Mode is automatically turned on when you first add Suica or PASMO card to Wallet. Touch ID/Face ID is not necessary with Express Transit Mode, you don’t need to wake or unlock your device or open an app to use transit or make the purchase. And you can use Apple Pay while wearing a face mask.
Simply hold the top of your iPhone or display of your Apple Watch within a few centimeters of the contactless reader until you see Done and a checkmark on the display. For transit gates glide through holding iPhone just above the blue reader area:
At some store checkouts you might need to select the Suica • PASMO payment option on a checkout touchscreen before paying, most of the time just say, “Suica” or “PASMO” to checkout staffer then hold iPhone or Apple Watch to the reader.
Express Transit Mode is very secure, a few points to be aware of:
- Express Transit Mode on iPhone is disabled after 5 Face ID misreads. This is easy to do without realizing it when wearing a face mask as there is no notification when Face ID is disabled. It’s jarring to find out Express Mode Suica or PASMO is disabled with an unexpected passcode prompt at the transit gate or store reader. iPhone 12 and later users can turn on the ‘use Face ID with a mask’ feature, iPhone X ~ iPhone 11 users can turn off ‘Raise to Wake’ in Settings > Display & Brightness to reduce the chance of Face ID misreads while wearing a face mask.
- Express Transit Mode on Apple Watch remains active for 10 minutes after taking off Apple Watch. After 10 minutes Express Mode deactivates until the Apple Watch passcode is entered.
- Suica • PASMO are prepaid cards, they only hold the amount of money that you manually add to it with Apple Pay, or with cash.
- Only one Suica • PASMO card can be set for Express Transit Mode. If you have multiple cards switch the Express Mode card in Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay, tap Express Mode Card, choose a new card, then authorize with Face ID/Touch ID.
Transit and Payments Coverage
Transit: Apple Pay Suica•PASMO can be used nationwide on all major transit systems covering rail and bus. This includes compatibility with other regional transit card areas: TOICA, ICOCA, SUGOCA, Kitaca, manaca, nimoca, Hayaken, PiTaPa. Look for the Transit IC logo pictured below.
Payments: Apple Pay Suica•PASMO is also good for contactless purchases nationwide at convenience stores, vending machines, taxis and any store or payment terminal displaying the Transit IC logo or logo marks for: Suica, PASMO, TOICA, ICOCA, SUGOCA, Kitaca, manaca, nimoca, Hayaken. These cards are all compatible with each other for transit and purchases.
Battery and Network
- Apple Pay Suica•PASMO works without a network connection for transit, purchases and Cash Suica Recharge.
- Use Apple Pay Suica•PASMO in Airplane mode for transit and purchase to preserve battery life, do not run out of battery with iPhone 8/X and Apple Watch before reaching your final destination.
- iPhone XS • iPhone XR and later have Apple Pay Express Mode with power reserve that works when the battery is run down. Let iPhone run down automatically into power reserve mode. You can use Apple Pay Suica•PASMO Express Mode power reserve mode up to 5 hours for transit, purchases and Cash Suica Recharge. See ‘Using Suica or PASMO on iPhone or Apple Watch in Japan’ for details.
Linked Services
There are a number of available linked services for all IC transit cards (both plastic and Mobile Suica • PASMO). The first step is getting the Apple Pay Suica or PASMO card number. This is done in Suica App or PASMO App (as Wallet app only reveals the last 4 digits of card numbers) and does not require any registration. Download and launch the app then tap the card or the “ⓘ” below the card, tap and copy the string that begins with JE (for Suica) or PB (for PASMO), paste the number into any linked service.
Linked services #1: Shinkansen eTickets
Suica • PASMO are the only mobile transit cards in the world that can be used for both Shinkansen and regular transit. There are 3 ways to use Apple Pay Suica or PASMO for Shinkansen travel. The following services are domestic ticket services for people living in Japan. Short term tourists usually have better ticket options with JR East Train Reservation or Japan Rail Pass or similar inbound visitor ticketing service.
- Eki-Net Shinkansen eTicket Service: create an Eki-Net account and register the Apple Pay Suica or PASMO card number to reserve and purchase JR East Shinkansen eTickets for travel on Tohoku, Yamagata, Akita, Hokkaido, Joestsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen lines. Details on Eki-Net Quick Guide.
- Touch and Go Shinkansen: register Apple Pay Suica or PASMO at any JR East station kiosk for ticketless Shinkansen non-reserve seat travel on JR East Shinkansen trains. Details on Touch and Go Shinkansen.
- EX App with a smartEX or EX-Press Reserve: create an account and register the Suica or PASMO card number to reserve and purchase eTickets for travel on JR Central Tokaido (Tokyo~Osaka) and JR West Sanyo (Osaka~Hakata) and JR Kyushu Shinkansen lines. Details on Apple Pay Suica EX Quick Guide.
- Inbound visitors can also attach JR East Train Reservation system discount tickets and passes to plastic Suica cards or Welcome Suica at designated JR East service windows and station kiosks.
Linked services #2: JRE POINT
If you are in Japan using Apple Pay Suica in the long term register a JRE POINT account and Mobile Suica account to earn points with Suica recharges, Suica transit on JR East lines, store purchases and other extras:
1) Set up a Mobile Suica account in Suica App for purchasing day passes, commute plans and receiving free Suica recharge with JRE POINT.
2) Set up a JRE POINT account and earn JRE POINT with Suica transit use, Apple Pay recharge, JR East Shinkansen eTicket purchases, and store purchases. Use your JRE POINT for free Suica recharges, Green Car Seat upgrades, and all domestic JR East ticket purchases in the Eki-Net reservation service (web and app).
Express Mode Savvy Store Readers
Express Mode is great, however some old store readers are not Express Mode savvy and require Face ID/Touch ID authentication. Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly.
The Good: Fortunately, all convenience stores and almost all NFC store readers everywhere are Express Mode savvy with readers and POS systems constantly upgraded. Just say, “Suica” or “PASMO” to the cashier then hold iPhone or Apple Watch to the reader. NFC readers like the ones pictured below work great.
The Bad: a few very old NFC readers are not Express Mode card savvy. Fortunately these are rare but the NFC reader forces you to manually select the Apple Pay Suica•PASMO card in Wallet and perform Touch ID/Face ID authentication like regular Apple Pay. Be patient as these older reader transaction speeds are usually slow. Be wary when you encounter the old model black JREM NFC readers pictured below on the left, new model JREM readers pictured on the right work great and are extremely fast.
The Ugly: UT1-Neo NFC readers show below are Express Mode card savvy but sensitive how iPhone/Apple Watch is held. The trick is to keep iPhone or Apple Watch still until the reader beeps, ignore the Apple Pay ka-ching ‘transaction complete’ sound. UT1-Neo NFC readers are found in smaller stores and coffee shops such as Tsubakiya Coffee.
Support and Troubleshooting
Apple Pay Suica • PASMO cards are linked to your Apple ID
If you sign out of iCloud, the Apple Pay Suica • PASMO card is deleted from Wallet and stored on iCloud. See Transfer Suica and other transit cards to a new iPhone to restore the card. You must sign in with the same Apple ID used to re-add Suica • PASMO, if you sign into iCloud with a different Apple ID than the one used to add Suica • PASMO, you cannot restore Suica • PASMO to Wallet.
Suica and PASMO Support
Suica Intro page (English)
Apple Pay Suica Support (English)
Mobile Suica Support Portal (Japanese)
Use PASMO with Apple Pay • Support (English and Chinese)
Apple Support
Add a Suica or PASMO card to Apple Wallet
Using Suica or PASMO in Japan
If you can’t transfer Suica or PASMO cards to your iPhone or Apple Watch
If your transit card balance doesn’t update in Apple Wallet
Information & Troubleshooting
General
Basic Suica • PASMO Troubleshooting
Reactivate a locked Suica or PASMO
Suica • PASMO recharge tips
Transfer • Recover • Remove
Transfer Suica • PASMO to a new iPhone or Apple Watch
Recover Apple Pay Suica • PASMO from Lost or Wiped iPhone
Remove Suica • PASMO from Wallet but not lose them
Commute Plan Renewal • Purchase
Suica • PASMO Apple Pay Commute Plan Guide
Notifications and Sounds
Suica • PASMO Notification and Reminder Settings
Suica • PASMO Gate Sounds and What They Mean
Suica App • PASMO App
Unlocking Suica App Security Lock
Apple Pay Suica Paper Receipts
Suica • PASMO Withdrawal Refund with fee
Suica • PASMO Withdrawal for free
Other Topics
iPhone X NFC Problem Q&A Exchange Guide
Fixing Suica • PASMO Lockout
Apple Pay Suica Battery FUD
Suica Inbound Battery Strategies
Mizuho Suica for Apple Pay
Apple Pay Express Mode with power reserve
Apple Pay Express Mode Tips
Mobile Suica Operational Hours (24 hour format)
Basic services run 22 hours with a 2 hour system maintenance window from 2:00~4:00
Account Registration
04:00~02:00 Create new account
05:00~00:50 Register and transfer Suica commuter pass to Mobile Suica account
Stored Fare Balance
04:00~02:00 Wallet App or Suica App recharge*
*(Cash recharge at stations, ATM, convenience stores is always available)
04:00~02:00 Auto-Charge registration/change settings/cancel
05:00~00:50 View transaction history in Suica App
05:00~00:50 Download PDF receipts from Mobile Suica members site
Commute Plans
05:00~23:45 Purchase, renew, refund or change commute plan route
Green Seat Upgrade
04:00~00:50 Purchase Green Seat Upgrade in Suica App
05:00~00:50 Refund Green Seat Upgrade in Suica App
Suica Day Pass
05:00~23:45 Purchase Day Pass in Suica App
05:00~23:45 Refund Day Pass in Suica App
Other
05:00~23:45 Mobile Suica reissue
04:00~02:00 Transfer Suica to new device
05:00~23:45 Suica withdrawal refund
Updated 2023-03-27
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