Category: CASHLESS

A JR East EMV Contactless VIEW card without Suica?

Yes. You read that right. A JR EAST EMV Contactless VIEW JRE CARD that doesn’t come with Suica functionality. Just a plain old credit card with a EMV Contactless logo.

Up until now JR East has only offered multifunction VIEW cards that combine a credit card and SUICA into one card. I myself have a BIC CAMERA VIEW card in Wallet and use it all the time but never use the plastic Suica card function because I have Apple Pay Suica. That’s the thing about transit card + credit card multifunction cards, they are a pre-mobile era product that offered the convenience of a credit card with auto-charge Suica in one plastic package.

In the Apple Pay Suica era these multifunction cards are superfluous. Suica App takes care of the auto-charge options, Wallet takes care of the rest. As YouTuber Kenzy201 points out, Mobile Suica is so ubiquitous in Tokyo that it’s a life hack, especially now that Mobile Suica and PASMO high school/junior high school commute passes are bringing a whole new demographic into the mix. If you think 20 million Mobile Suica users is some kind of achievement, wait for a year or two of HS/JHS Mobile Suica commute pass users to clock in. In short JRE CARD is a EMV contactless VISA card for Mobile Suica users. I think it’s the start point of JR East’s transition away from multifunction VIEW Suica cards with more JRE POINT replacing multifunction as the lure.

Apple Pay Suica made all the difference for Mobile Suica growth

The first EMV Contactless VIEW CARD designed for Mobile Suica
Kenzy explains the ‘why now?’. Design wise the ‘numberless’ front is a little more secure and social media friendly (name, number, etc. are on the back), nice but not very important. The real reason are stingy JRE POINT transit rewards with plastic Suica cards, if you want to earn JRE POINT for JR East transit, Mobile Suica is, by far, the best choice. There is also the 3.5% JRE POINT reward when shopping in JRE POINT stores. Combine that with 2X or 4X JRE POINT shopping days and you have a good return. The only down side compared to my trusty old BIC CAMERA VIEW is the annual ¥525 JRE CARD membership fee (free the first year), but since I shop regularly at JRE POINT stores, JRE CARD is a better deal and pays for itself.

And there is the EMV Contactless angle. JR East has already issued the first EMV Contactless VISA VIEW CARD for corporate users without Suica because corporate issue multiple user Suica does not exist. The new JRE CARD VISA is a personal card with EMV Contactless that follows the footsteps of similar recent credit cards from JR West and JR Kyushu…but the ever growing Mobile Suica user base puts JRE CARD in a unique and completely different market position.

Why only single mode EMV?
There are plenty of dual-mode payments cards that combine EMV Touch with iD or QUICPay, why doesn’t JRE CARD offer EMV Contactless + Suica? Kenzy says it boils down to conservative rail transit ‘fail-safe’ operation management. If you examine the EMV Contactless open loop test installments they all have one thing in common: separately well spaced readers, one Transit IC FeliCa, one EMV, one QR. Japanese rail transit operators want the different reader technologies far apart from each other to prevent card clash, misreads and other potential errors. All-in-one readers are always the worst choice with the worst performance.

That’s why JR East doesn’t want to issue a EMV + Suica plastic card. Or so Kenzy says, I agree but also think VISA EMV Contactless support makes JRE POINT an easier sell for signing on merchants and expanding its retail footprint. He also misses the Apple Pay Wallet angle. With plastic JRE CARD you have single mode EMV, but JRE CARD in Apple Wallet is automatic dual-mode EMV + QUICPay. And with Suica already in Apple Wallet, users have the most choices. It’s the one mistake in his fine explanatory video that covers all the in and outs and how JRE CARD connects to JRE POINT Stages coming in October. Basically JRE CARD earns 3X other VIEW CARDS. Well worth watching.

Eki-Net Mobile Ticket Quick Guide

Eki-Net eTicket ad comparing paper tickets with cheaper, more convenient mobile tickets featuring the Asagaya Sisters comedy duo

Sections

JR East Mobile Ticket Basics
Eki-Net Discounts
JRE POINT Integration
Registration
Ticket Purchase
eTicket and Ticketless Use

Mobile Ticket Basics
The JR East online train ticket reservation system comes in 2 flavors: Japanese only Eki-Net for domestic users and the multi-lingual JR East Train Reservation for inbound visitors. Both of these differently branded services share the same basic system, internet domain name and similar account registration process.

Despite the common backend accounts are not compatible: ticket options, discounts and related services are different for domestic Eki-Net users and inbound tourists. This guide only covers domestic Eki-Net. See the JR East Ticket Reservation intro video by One Good Dream for a good overview of the inbound version, and the JR East Ticket Reservation pages: buying a ticket without using a pass and how to register your IC card.

Welcome to world of Eki-Net
The domestic targeted Eki-Net is a sprawling travel service portal that covers everything from train tickets to package tours and car rentals, far too large and messy to cover here. This guide is limited to setting up and using Shinkansen eTicket and Express Train Ticketless services of the Eki-Net Japanese web site and app, and using them with Apple Pay Suica which gives you the best value with JRE POINT integration.

To understand how and when to use Eki-Net, it’s important to know the basic categories of JR East mobile ticketing:

  • JR East Regular Train Lines
    • Suica (and compatible Transit IC cards) pays the station to station distance based fare using the Stored Fare balance (SF) of the Suica card.
    • Eki-Net Ticketless: are separate online only Limited Express reserve seat tickets (Narita Express, Azusa, Kaiji, Odoriko, etc.) used in combination with Suica to pay basic fare and the reserve seat.
  • JR East Shinkansen Lines
    • Touch and Go: a ticketless non-reserve Shinkansen option that uses Suica • Transit IC card SF for non-reserved seat travel on JR East Shinkansen lines. It works exactly the same as Suica for regular transit, no discounts but there are JRE POINT transit rewards with Suica which basically gives Suica users a discount. Free pre-registration of the Suica or other transit IC card is required.
    • Eki-Net eTicket: a Shinkansen mobile ticket that bundles Shinkansen distance fare + Limited Express seat reservation or unreserved seat in one eTicket attached to a registered Suica or Transit IC card. Suica users also get the benefit of earning JRE POINT rewards, other Transit IC cards do not. Eki-Net eTickets do not use the Suica SF balance but attaching an eTicket to Apple Pay Suica for example, makes for extremely convenient and seamless local train to Shinkansen connections with just iPhone or Apple Watch.

Eki-Net Tokudane discounts
One of the nice things about Eki-Net is that it offers the same discount rates to all Eki-Net users unlike the 2 tiered EX service which has smartEX with small discounts and EX-Press Reserve with large discounts.

Eki-Net discount eTicket and Ticketless are called ‘Tokudane’ and are reserve seat only. Tokudane eTickets are also limited in number for each train and can disappear quickly. During big vacation periods such as New Years, Golden Week and Obon, they are almost always unavailable due to hight demand. The rule of thumb is, the bigger the discount, the faster they disappear. Tokudane Tickeless discounts are limited to reserve seat capacity of the train and are easy to get at the last minute.

Eki-Net • JRE POINT Integration
Eki-Net is highly integrated with the JR East JRE POINT system and just like any ‘mileage club’ out there, ticket purchases come with JRE POINT rewards that can be turned around and used for ticket purchases and Green Car seat upgrades. Basic point rewards are earned with any Eki-Net registered credit card purchase. JR East VIEW CARD purchases earn extra JRE POINT rewards.

Eki-Net Registration
Registering and managing an Eki-Net account can only be done via the web site.

Go to the Eki-Net web site, tap register, go to the bottom of the welcome page, tap proceed

The Eki-Net registration YouTube video has a quick visual explanation of the steps:

Steps 3~5 (0:33~0:53) enter email address to receive the registration URL.
Step 6 (1:07) register name, address, phone number, account ID and password.
Step 7 (1:29) register a credit card. Foreign issue credit cards can be registered if 3-D Secure compliant.
Step 8 (1:50) register Mobile Suica or plastic card ID numbers (up to 6).
Step 9 (2:17) sign up or decline Eki-Net promo emails, confirm info and tap register (2:48).

Eki-Net Ticket Purchases
You can either use the Eki-Net website or Eki-Net app to search trains and purchase eTicket and Ticketless train tickets. You can bypass manual login with Eki-Net app that supports Face ID / Touch ID login, download Eki-Net from the Japanese App Store.

It’s helpful to know to know a few basics.

Step 1~2 (0:37) enter station points, date, departure time, number of people and tap search.
Step 3 (0:51) select the train.
Step 4~5 (1:05) select the seat type: eTicket non-reserve, Tokudane discount (reserve), Green Car, JRE POINT Green Car upgrade, etc., then select having a seat assigned or select via the seat map. Tokudane availability is indicated by a green banner next to the car number.
Step 6 (1:49) select your credit card, enter security code and purchase you eTicket.
Step 7 (2:27) link eTicket with Apple Pay Suica or other registered IC Transit cards.

Here are screenshots of the steps using Eki-Net iOS app.

1: Enter search criteria
2: Select the train
3: Select the seat type
4: Select the seat
5: Confirm and scroll to bottom
6: Tap Purchase
7: Tap Yes
8: Tap Attach
9: Confirm IC transit card name/number and tap attach
10: Confirm Seat assignments and IC transit cards and tap Attach
11: Tap OK
This how an eTicket looks in Eki-Net app
Tap the ticket in Eki-Net app to change or cancel
This how an eTicket looks in Eki-Net web

Using eTickets
Apple Pay Wallet and Suica App do not have any of your mobile ticket information and you do not need to launch an app to use eTickets or Ticketless. Just get on your train.

Eki-Net eTickets with Apple Pay Suica are extremely convenient

The only notification you will receive is a reminder email from Eki-Net before departure. Eki-Net app is handy for confirming eTicket seat assignments and attached Transit IC cards, just tap the your ticket to view details.

Your eTicket is linked to the registered Apple Pay Suica, all you do is tap the Shinkansen transit gate and go through as show in the above video using Apple Pay Suica on Apple Watch. Your eTickets are validated online, there is nothing you need to show to the conductor or station staff.

Eki-Net App is convenient for checking eTicket details, seat assignments, changing attached Suica cards, etc. Tap the eTicket to see details.

Using Ticketless
Once you have your Ticketless seat reservation, simply get on assigned train car and take your assigned seat. Conductors already have your seat information and do not check or validate your seat assignment.

(Updated 2023-07-29)

The open loop mobile connectivity challenge

The recent additions of stera transit (Visa-SMBC-Nippon Signal-QUADRAC) open loop test systems in Kyushu covering Fukuoka metro, Kuamamoto city transit and JR Kyushu expand the VISA Touch transit boutique deeper into western Japan territory. Open loop based cloud processing advocates like to portray these developments as proof that local processing based FeliCa systems like Suica et al. are expensive bygones due for replacement.

There’s just one little problem that open loop advocates fail to mention: mobile connectivity, aka the Suica app problem, the QR Code payment problem, the Smart Navigo HCE problem, etc. Wide LTE and 5G deployment doesn’t mean reliable mobile and internet connectivity that mobile payment apps depend on, and carrier outages quickly bring down the cloud transaction processing side of the equation. This was proven, yet again, on July 2 when major carrier KDDI suffered a massive nationwide outage that lasted for 80 hours. Let’s make a quick reference graph for examining local processing vs cloud processing in the mobile era.

Stera is a mobile based payments platform from the SMBC group (basically the VISA JP group) that does away with the NTT Data CAFIS dedicated backbone and replaces it with the internet based GMO Payment Gateway. This is the same stera that powers the open loop stera transit initiative.

The weak point of course is that since mobile powers the gate reader side, when mobile service goes down, stera gate readers stop working. As everybody found out during the KDDI network meltdown, Mobile Suica kept right on working on the transit gate and the store checkout reader, while mobile app based code payments and point systems all stopped. Some vital services that depended on KDDI connectivity like ATM networks also stopped working.

Cloud based Suica will face some of these challenges when it goes online in March 2023. The only difference being how much local processing stays intact and how much system buffering there is (how much it needs to talk with the cloud server to do the job), we shall see. Which brings me to the point I want to make. The media almost always portrays the open loop/cloud vs closed loop/local match as a winner takes all, one size fits all proposition. As the KDDI meltdown proves, this is stupid, and dangerous. Never put all the eggs in one technology basket. I don’t think the risk will go away, not as long as telecommunication company corporate structures don’t foster and promote their engineering talent (the people who actually make things work) deep into the executive decision making forums.

Open loop in Japan is geared for inbound tourists the supplements, but does not replace, the old reliable Transit IC infrastructure which is evolving and reducing costs too. They compliment each other, address different needs and uses. One size doesn’t fit all. If it did, Oyster card would have died years ago.

Cashless is fast and convenient? Point app mania reality check

My partner wanted to pick up some cheap t-shirts on bargain sale at Uniqlo yesterday. The Asagaya station building Beans shopping mall has all the latest cashless options but very bad network service so Uniqlo checkout was a comedy routine. First he brought up the Uniqulo app to get Uniqlo points, then I brought up my JRE POINT app to earn JRE POINT, then he finally paid with QR Code dBarai (docomo). But for each app launch and load we had to run to the store entrance to capture enough network connection for the apps codes to load. The staff is very used to this and suggest customers do so when apps didn’t load, patiently folding clothes while they run back and forth. I asked the cashier if this happens all the time. She smiled and nodded. “Cash is probably faster isn’t it?” She smiled and nodded.

Gosh, just when we thought cashless was going to free us from the so called inconvenient drudgery of cash along came smartphone reward point apps that bog down the whole cashless checkout experience, neatly killing off the supposed time saving advantage. You stand in line while the checkout customer fiddles with smartphone, digging around in an app to find the right coupon code thing. You feel smug until it’s your turn and the networks sucks, the discount coupon doesn’t load and bam, you’re holding up the line too. It has gotten to the point where Nikkei XTECH has provided an Apple Pay help article for faster checkout that explains the benefits of using Apple Value Added Services. Will Apple Pay VAS dPoint and Apple Pay VAS PONTA really help us? Probably not as they only work at LAWSON.

There is another checkout trend I see recently. With price increases everywhere people are using cash a lot more, even at places like in-station Beck’s Coffee Shop. Every customer has a Suica but more young people are keeping it in their pocket and plucking down ¥10,000 yen notes for ¥300 ice coffee. Why? I think it’s Kakebo culture at play, it’s easier to budget with cash payments and the small slightly inconvenient physical routines that accompany it. It’s not about doing everything with cash, but good old tsukae-wake compartmentalization helps keep focus and tamps down the impulsiveness when doing everything cashless. Another way of spreading the risk in these uncertain times.

VISA Japan and Apple still at odds over VISA Touch debit cards

Mastercard but no VISA

The April 19 launch of SBI Neobank Mastercard debit card support for Apple Pay was a bit unique: the first time that a plastic issue Japanese debit card came to Apple Pay and the first Apple Pay Japan debit card supporting the FeliCa iD payment network. Another interesting aspect is that only the Mastercard version supports Apple Pay, the VISA version is plastic only with VISA Touch (EMV contactless) support.

There are plenty of bank app issue digital only debit cards from JCB, Mizuho, MUFG and others on Apple Pay. These all work on JCB’s QUICPay (FeliCa) and J/Speedy(EMV) payment networks. Apple Pay Japan supports many different mobile payment network cards thanks to Mobile FeliCa support, by far the largest selection of Apple Pay payment networks in the world: EMV (VISA, Mastercard, AMEX, JCB), iD, QUICPay, Suica, PASMO, nanaco, WAON. But VISA issue debit cards are not supported even though there are many, not a single one on Apple Pay.

Wasn’t this taken care of by the May 2021 Apple and VISA JP agreement? For credit cards yes, one year later they are still at odds over FeliCa support in debit cards. VISA Japan brand debit cards are VISA Touch EMV contactless exclusive, single mode cards. VISA JP credit cards are dual mode EMV/FeliCa for plastic and smartphones, but not debit cards. We don’t know the reason but debit cards deifintely fit the budget customer category while credit cards come with credit checks, perks and card membership fees for upscale cards.

As an easily available budget card, VISA cuts costs by dumping the dual mode EMV/FeliCa IC chip and transaction fees for the convenience of using FeliCa iD/QUICPay payment networks. In other words VISA keeps all transaction fees for themselves while marketing the shit out of VISA Touch as the greatest thing since…whenever.

All of the other card brands in Japan have dual mode NFC as standard. Not VISA, they’re playing the long game of eliminating FeliCa payment network competition. This stupid polarizing single flavor NFC position only served to give QR Code payment networks (PayPay, Line Pay, etc.) a huge opportunity that they smartly played. End result: more payment network competition than ever before.

Apple on the other hand has a very simple rule for all Apple Pay Japanese issue cards: they must support FeliCa and all EMV cards are global NFC dual mode. Was this the price for adding FeliCa support to Apple Pay? Perhaps, I think it’s more to do with the Apple Pay vision of removing complex and confusing hardware choices, the Google Pay Japan mess, for standard ‘just works everywhere’ NFC. Has this been successful? Very...just ask Suica.