Category: Docomo

iOS 15 Apple Pay Wallet preview: the Express Mode difference

Express Transit Suica ruins the Apple Pay experience for using anything else. You want Apple Pay to work that way everywhere but it doesn’t. Most of the time we trudge along using Apple Pay Wallet with face mask Face ID authorization, although the Apple Pay experience on Apple Watch is a big improvement as well as being a trusted device for secure intent.

iPhone users in America are finally getting a taste of Express Transit en masse with the 2020 rollouts of Apple Pay for SmarTrip, TAP, Ventra and Clipper. Apple recently rebranded Express Transit as Express Mode on their new Wallet webpage (in Japanese it’s called Express Card). The branding change may seem trivial but it has bigger implications for first time users of new Wallet services in iOS 15, Express Mode goes places that Express Transit cannot: digital keys and digital ID.

These functions are not new of course, Express Transit cards and Student ID cards have been opening transit gates and doors these past few years. But Express Mode is for everyone and personal: your keys and badge to unlock your home door, unlock and start your car and get you into the office. With these refinements and additions it’s safe to say that iOS 15 Wallet finally delivers the digital wallet dream people have been talking about since 2010. Wallet can replace your wallet.

What’s new
Last year I covered ‘coming soon’ Ultra Wideband Touchless and Code Payment (codeword Aquaman) Wallet developments. The Code Payments feature is still waiting in the wings. Steve Moser kindly confirmed that Aquaman code references are alive and well in iOS 15 with minor changes but this post will focus on announced features. In the WWDC21 Keynote Apple Pay section Jennifer Bailey announced keys and ID. The Wallet features you get from the ones listed on the iOS 15 preview page depend on the device:

Car keys with Ultra Wideband support (shareable)
iPhones and Apple Watches equipped with U1 chip* (iPhone 11 and later, Apple Watch 6)

Car keys without Ultra Wideband support (sharable)
Home keys (shareable)
iPhone XS • Apple Watch 5 and later*

Office key
Hotel key
“Device requirements may vary by hotel and workplace.”

ID in Wallet
iOS 15 devices
watchOS 8 devices (the fine print: Not all features are available on all devices)

None of the new features will be available when iOS 15 launches. Expect them with the iOS 15.1 update or later. NFC Car keys launched on iOS 13 and iOS 14 in 2020.

The A12 Bionic • iPhone XS and later requirement for Wallet keys is easy to understand: Express Cards with power reserve. A12 Bionic (and later) powered NFC bypasses the iOS overhead with a direct connection to the secure element. It is vital that people can unlock car and home doors even when their iPhone battery is out of juice. Up to 5 hours of power reserve makes a huge difference, but only for iPhone. *Apple Watch supports Express Mode but not power reserve.

  • Home Keys
  • Office Key
  • ID in Wallet
How does Home key unlock the faraway door?

The bigger story is UWB because it is new technology that works with the Secure Element to create a whole new experience. Up to now the Secure Element was exclusively NFC. Not anymore, the Car Connection Consortium (CCC) Digital Key 3.0 specification “maintains support for NFC technology as a mandatory back-up solution.” Digital car key is first and foremost a UWB solution with NFC relegated to the back seat.

UWB connectivity adds hands-free, location-aware keyless access and location-aware features for an improved user-friendly experience…

3.0 addresses security and usability by authenticating the Digital Key between a vehicle and the mobile device over Bluetooth Low Energy and then establishing a secure ranging session with UWB, which allows the vehicle to perform secure and accurate distance measurement to localize the mobile device.

Car Connectivity Consortium Delivers Digital Key Release 3.0 Specification

NTT Docomo and Sony demonstrated UWB car keys in action last January running on Android Osaifu Keitai hardware. Sony (FeliCa) and NXP (MIFARE and UWB chipsets) have worked closely to extend both FeliCa and MIFARE into the UWB Touchless era. The CCC Digital Key specification is open to any Secure Element provider. UWB + Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is simply another radio communication layer in addition to NFC.

Diagram from Car Connectivity Consortium (CCR) Digital Key 2.0 White Paper, the recently released 3.0 spec adds UWB
Mobile FeliCa UWB Touchless diagram from NTT Docomo, NXP MIFARE works exactly the same way

This is significant as it opens up UWB to anything that currently uses the Secure Element and NFC. Apple has not spelled it out but suggest UWB might work with Home keys and there is no reason UWB cannot work with all keys, transit cards and Student ID. The WWDC2021 session video Explore UWB-based car keys is a great introduction and highly recommended viewing if you have any interest in the subject. The session is a bit unusual in that the discussion covers RF hardware and performance design more than software. It feels like the target audience is car manufacturers. There is a lot of detail to get lost in but here are some simple but essential points:

Secure Element improvements: the SE has always used unique keys for mutual authentication, this has been extended with ranging key deviation

Secure communication at a distance: UWB and BLE identifier randomization with secure ranging is an important security feature as UWB Touchless works over much greater distances than NFC reader tapping

Zones: the precise motion and positioning tracking of a paired UWB device with a unique key allows for ‘passive entry’ action zones, walking towards the car unlocks it, walking away locks it, etc. without any other user interaction

RF transceiver and antenna system design: is a deep and difficult art that echos the Suica creation story

JR East (Suica) and Hong Kong MTR (Octopus) have both said they are developing transit gates that incorporate UWB. This makes sense as Mobile FeliCa is now UWB savvy but after watching the WWDC21 session video I can only marvel at the complexity of the big picture because UWB is about mapping and using space and movement to perform an operation.

The engineers face countless problems and challenges to juggle in their quest to build a transit gate that delivers the same FeliCa NFC speed and reliability with UWB…at rush hour. They have to consider radiation patters, system latency and processing power, localization algorithms and much more. If they achieve their stated goal, 2023 could be a very interesting year for transit.

ID in Wallet
Lots of people are excited about the possibility of adding a digital driver’s license to Wallet but as 9to5 Mac’s Chance Miller wrote, we don’t know much about about it at this point. Actually in Japan we do. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) released an English PDF: First Summary Toward the Realization of Electronic Certificates for Smartphones with a diagram that explains their digital ID system architecture. MIC remarked back in November 2020 that they are in discussions with Apple to bring the digital My Number ID card architecture to Wallet. The Android version is due to launch in 2023 and will likely employ the Mobile FeliCa Multiple Secure Element domain feature described by FeliCa Dude (FeliCa using NFC-B instead of NFC-F). A similar basic architecture with different protocols and issue process will undoubtedly be used for adding digital drivers licenses.

The Privacy question
I’ll be very interested to see how ID launches in America this fall. Which outside partner company or companies are providing the service to participating states and running the backend? I suspect it will be something similar to Student ID with Blackboard running the service for participating universities. The biggest security question in my mind is who besides the TSA will use ID in Wallet, and more importantly, how? Some governments and transit agencies are pushing face recognition as a convenience in addition to security. My preference will always be for having my ID on my own Secure Element rather than somebody’s cloud server, an ID that I authorize with my own secure intent.

Wallet UI and usability improvements
Wallet App didn’t get the makeover that some users asked for, but there are are a few small improvements. Up to 16 cards can be added in iOS 15, up from 12 in iOS 14. Archived passes and multiple-pass downloads help make Wallet more useable and remove some housekeeping drudgery.

I finally got two WWDC19 Apple Pay Wallet wishes granted: (1) dynamic Wallet cards and (2) region free transit cards. Apple Card does UI things in Wallet no other card is allowed to do. As far as I know this first changed with Disney’s MagicMobile launch on iPhone, Jennifer Bailey calls them “magical moments when you tap to enter.” There are similar low-key card animations in Home key and ID cards. It’s a very small step but I hope Apple adds more over time than just sprinkling seasoning card animations. Done wisely, dynamic cards could improve Wallet usability that convey important card status and account information.

Wallet card animations are slowly making their way into the picture, but will they ever be more than silly pretty fun?

Region free transit cards means that users no longer have to change the iPhone • Apple Watch region setting to add a transit card. In iOS 15 Wallet you get the full list regardless of the region setting. It’s not perfect but it is less confusing than adding a transit card in iOS 14.

  • iOS 15 add to Wallet step 2 Available Cards English

Summary
The overall reaction to iOS 15 has been somewhat muted but there are lots of new details. Apple Pay Wallet additions for home keys, office key, hotel key and ID build on technologies that have been on the Apple Pay platform for some time but Apple is leveraging them in new ways.

The unveiling of UWB Touchless is important and cutting edge, that might revolutionize secure transactions. The next step not only for car keys but for transit and other services that up to now have been limited to NFC. And this time, unlike NFC, Apple is leading the way for UWB.

The bottom line is that UWB opens up a lot of possibilities for many current NFC based solutions. Expect UWB Touchless support for Wallet cards in the near future that use Express Mode in new ways, and new UWB based features for a much smarter Wallet.

UWB Gallery
Screenshots from the Explore UWB-based car keys session video

  • This foundation for UWB Touchless will be the same for next generation digital transit cards

Zones
Zones are is one of the exciting aspects of UWB Touchless, where functions are triggered by the simple act of walking towards or away from the car. It will be interesting to see how this is applied to UWB Touchless transit gates.

  • Welcome zone for turning on things
  • Unlock zone
  • Walk away lock zone

Space and movement: the UWB process

  • Car has multiple UWB and BLE transceivers
  • 1) BLE proximity detection
  • 2) Authentication and Secure Element range key creation
  • 3) Secure ranging communication
  • 4) Car maps device trajectory with localization algorithm
  • 5) Device enters zone, car unlocks
  • Good localization algorithms are key for fast and accurate trajectory mapping and overall performance.
Last but not least, Power Reserve mode now supports Find My Network

The VISA JP Apple Pay announcement and digital banking wars

MacRumors Sami Fathi: Customers with Visa cards…will be able to add their card to their Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch.

Me: I like MacRumors but the writer here has no idea what the story is or that users have been using these cards in Apple Pay all along for store purchases.

MacRumors Sami Fathi: Hey! Could you elaborate on what you mean? Visa cards issued by those banks now have Apple Pay, correct?

Sure Sami, here’s the elaborate story. Do you know FeliCa? It’s the Sony created NFC standard that has been around a long time, long before EMV grafted NFC into contactless credit cards. When mobile payments launched in Japan back in 2004, Mobile FeliCa was the only technology that worked. So mobile payments for all major credit cards and Suica were built on Mobile FeliCa, the contactless payments infrastructure in Japan grew from that.

Fast forward to 2016. Phil Schiller announced FeliCa for iPhone 7 at the keynote and the launch of Apple Pay in Japan. VISA Japan didn’t sign an agreement with Apple but it didn’t matter much because VISA JP cards were available for Apple Pay thanks to previous Mobile FeliCa agreements covering the iD and QUICPay networks for store payments. The other card companies (Mastercard JP, JCB, American Express JP) signed with Apple.

It was a big success. But the Mobile FeliCa agreements only covered store purchases, they didn’t cover things like in-app purchases. Even though many Japanese users added their VISA cards to Apple Pay they couldn’t use them to recharge Suica cards because in app purchases were not supported.

Fast forward to 2020. VISA JP is a major sponsor of the Tokyo Olympics showering sponsorship money to promote ‘VISA Touch’ EMV contactless cards. They want customers to use VISA Touch at stores, not iD and QUICPay because the margins are nicer and EMV contactless is a world standard except for places like Japan (FeliCa) and China (PBOC). Most of the POS equipment in Japanese stores is multi-protocol ready so the customer NFC flavor is a moot point. For whatever reason, let’s say marketshare, VISA JP finally signed on with Apple Pay. The first indication something was up occurred in November when VISA suddenly appeared, and disappeared in the Wallet add card lineup.

What changed for all those VISA JP cards already working in Apple Pay Wallet these past few years? A VISA logo, in-app payments, dual mode NFC and Payment card Express Transit:

  • VISA logo
  • Dual mode: FeliCa and EMV
  • EMV Express Transit
  • Suica and PASMO recharge directly in Wallet
  • In-App support

Did you get that Sami? Hello, anybody there?

Digital Banking Wars
Seriously though, it’s sad when tech writers don’t understand the story in the stories they write. All major Apple sites ran the same wrong story, it should have been: Visa JP Cards now fully support Apple Pay. Journalists do everybody a great service when explaining complex stories and connecting the dots in easy to understand ways, unfortunately nobody cares about getting it right. Which is a shame because there were other major things going on behind the VISA JP Apple Pay announcement that even the Japanese tech media missed: the very same day, NTT Docomo and MUFG announced a joint digital banking venture.

Let’s take a closer look at that VISA JP Apple Pay announcement, specifically the issuer launch list: APLUS, Cedyna (SMBC Financial), SMBC, Docomo, MICARD, Saison, JACCS, Rakuten. Do you see MUFG? Nope. MUFG brand VISA cards will join at some point, probably, but as VISA has put all their eggs in the SMBC basket, the companies are not on the friendliest of terms.

NTT Docomo and SMBC/VISA group feuded for years and called a stalemate. It was only a matter of time before NTT Docomo kicked SMBC to the curb, which they did yesterday with the MUFG joint announcement. Docomo and MUFG are going to leverage dPoint into an economic zone to rival Rakuten and SMBC/VISA V Point. It’s as simple as that. And here you thought that VISA JP announcement was only about Apple Pay. Think again, the economic zone mobile digital banking wars are just getting started.

SMBC VISA cards are EMV/FeliCa dual mode in Apple Pay but single mode EMV in Google Pay

A great reality check

I was pleasantly surprised to find some hits coming from a website called limitless possibility, followed the link and discovered a great podcast by Luc-Olivier Dumais-Blais and Yanik Magnan on Japanese transit IC cards, Suica 2 in 1, the new features of FeliCa Standard SD2, Ultra Wideband Touchless and more…things I’ve been writing about for a while that never get any traffic.

Yanik does a much better job of summarizing the transit technology landscape than my messy collection of posts. I wholeheartedly agree that UWB Touchless is the perfect opportunity for Japanese Transit IC members to put aside political differences and merge, or at least ‘harmonize’ their data formats for a real all in one Super Suica. We shall see. There are things coming down the pike such as multi-secure element domain/multi-protocol Mobile FeliCa that might have transit implications. And I thank Yanik for his constructive criticism of my ‘Super Suica’ coverage. It’s very helpful and rare that anybody takes the time these days.

Extra bonus: their discussion of the Japan QR Code payment mess and a sendup of PayPay ‘gamification’ campaigns using the Canadian Tim Hortons roll up the rim thing is hilarious and spot on.

T-POINT? We don’t need no stinkin’ T-POINT

In the ephemeral COVID era we live in assurance don’t come easy, especially with JP cashless market data. Half the fun is taking the crumbs you find, a 1000 person web survey here and there, and seeing what trends you can tease out of it.

First of all the usual disclaimer: cashless use is highly regional, depending on transit use and many other factors like age group, shopping habits, and reward points. It’s this last item that makes the CreditCard no Yomimono survey so interesting.

Reward points are the dangling carrot all Japanese cashless players use to drive card use. New comers like PayPay use them shamelessly to capture customers and build their platform. Japanese customers love to play the ‘what combo gets me the most points’ game but they are also notoriously cold shoulder when they feel gypped. And once they drop something, they never come back.

The survey skips over regional point systems like JRE POINT (though I think that’s debatable considering Mobile Suica on Apple Pay/Google Pay/Osaifu Keitai), and examines ‘national’ point systems: d POINT, T-POINT, Rakuten POINT and PONTA with a simple question. Which one do you use? 2,271 people said:

  • Rakuten POINT: 59.9％
  • d POINT: 18.4％
  • T-POINT: 14.4％
  • PONTA: 7.3％

It’s clear to see why JR East cut that special deal for Rakuten Pay Suica: the different online Rakuten businesses for shopping, travel, etc. mesh well and there are a lot of people invested in Rakuten POINT. The deal puts Super Suica in a good 2021 launch position for new local transit partners, MaaS NFC Tag Suica and more as the platform grows.

It’s a bittersweet deal however for JRE POINT. It’s a real shame and missed opportunity that the major IC transit cards (Suica, ICOCA, TOICA, etc.) are compatible for transit and eMoney, but not for points. Even if they all kept their own point branding and simply offered 1=1 point exchanges, people would use them more.

The decline of T-POINT is not surprising, dropping from 60% in a 2015 survey. Culture Convenience Club (CCC) and SoftBank ran T-POINT into the ground and it’s not coming back. It’s only a matter of time before SoftBank kisses T-POINT (and CCC) goodbye and unveils PayPay POINT.

PONTA is another major that has not gained much traction so far but this might change with the recent LAWSON Bank PONTA Plus branded credit card push. All of the point systems need to add Apple VAS and Google SmartPay support and drive acceptance on the merchant POS level. The less we have to deal with separate plastic point cards, all the better.

NTT Flet’s fails in the Covid traffic crunch

NTT FLET’S internet service has been around forever in many configurations, the latest being Flet’s Hikari ‘optical fiber’. I call it flexible fiber because NTT uses the term Hikari when they should not. My Hikari only comes into the apartment building junction box then branches into each apartment with good old cooper wire phone lines and a VDSL modem. NTT calls that Hikari, I don’t.

PPPoE/IPv4 traffic has been tapped out in Tokyo since at least 2017. When I first upgraded from PPPoE/IPv4 to IPoE/IPv6, I saw a pleasant bump in speed with none of the night time internet traffic meltdowns when using PPPoE.

  • Flet’s PPoE/IPv4
  • Flet’s IPoE/IPv6

I thought my problems were solved but over time IPoE/IPv6 download speed has slowed down while iPhone NTT Docomo 4G LTE speed has skyrocketed past NTT Flet’s:

  • NTT Docomo 4G LTE then
  • NTT Docomo 4G LTE now
  • NTT Flet’s now

A year ago Twitter user shao, who posts wonderful network and payment tech tweets with the deep tech background to back them up, noted that the Japanese Internet Provider Association was in a collective hissy fit with NTT. IPoE/IPv6 junction points to NTT main lines where tapping out and providers needed more junction points, they also wanted IPoE access pricing brought in line with PPPoE and better traffic control. NTT gave internet providers the cold shoulder with ‘we’ll consider it if you do the work.’ The result of that is NTT East/West Flet’s service is seriously slowing down in face of stay home telework, bored kids streaming content and too much online shopping.

As shao notes 4G and KDDI au Hikari nuro service are, so far, unaffected. The strange thing here is that KDDI is simply renting NTT dark fiber for nuro. So yes, NTT has the capacity, but doesn’t seem inclined to put in the effort to share it unless providers do the work, and also pay up. To be fair I think one of the problems is hinted at in a recent annual NTT financial report: a shortage of field engineers and technicians. Somehow it seems fitting that the human problem of Covid is also the human problem of slow internet speeds.