The state of online payments is far from ideal, it’s full of glitches, gotchas and different kinds of authentication that don’t always work well. We all have experience with cards […]
Mobile Transit
Suica 2.0 Platform Closeup: Next Generation Suica App
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 […]
Mobile Transit
JR East and Tokyo private rail lines agree to replace mag-strip paper tickets with QR starting in 2026
QR ticketing that been in the works for years will finally start to replace mag-strip paper tickets for JR East and Tokyo area private rail operators starting in 2026. Remember […]
Apple
Japanese My Number Digital ID for Apple Wallet
When Tim Cook came to Japan in late 2022, it was a charm offensive to stave off government talk of forcing 3rd party app stores. During that time Tim Cook […]
Mobile Transit
Apple Pay Presto: open and closed loop done right
Examine the Where you can ride transit using Apple Pay support page and you’ll notice that some listed entries have an ‘*Express Mode supported’ tag and some don’t. There is […]
Mobile Payments
Tap to Pay on iPhone in Japan FeliCa questions
The low-key May 10 launch of Tap to Pay on iPhone in Japan follows a year of soon to be coming rumors that indicated FeliCa support. But that didn’t happen. […]