Category: Japan Journal

Personal journal of experiences in Japan

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.

JR West launches Mobile ICOCA

As promised back in 2020, JR West finally launched Mobile ICOCA for Osaifu Keitai Android devices on March 22, with Apple Pay support expected later this year . If the Apple Pay PASMO rollout is anything to go by, expect Apple Pay ICOCA around October. It takes time to coordinate with Cupertino as Apple likes to align these things with new iOS releases, in this case iOS 17. Basic Android service points:

  • Android 10 devices: the Osaifu Keitai supported devices list is limited to modern Android 10 devices that support multiple transit cards (Suica + PASMO + ICOCA) with only one card set as the default ‘Express Transit’ card.
  • WESTER ID required: this new point system + single ID for multiple JR West online services was put in place just for Mobile ICOCA and a registered account is required for Mobile ICOCA. Similar to JRE POINT, users earn points from transit use, recharge and purchases at participating stores. WESTER POINT to Mobile ICOCA recharge is built in and self contained, more streamlined than JRE POINT app to Suica app recharge. J-WEST credit cards earn the most WESTER POINT for recharge and commute plan purchase.
  • Mobile ICOCA Osaifu Keitai Android app
    • Mobile ICOCA digital issue only, no plastic card transfers
    • Users can register 3-D Secure 2.0 credit cards for recharge in the Mobile ICOCA app but ‘some foreign issue cards’ are not supported (looking at you foreign issue VISA)
    • No wearables (Garmin, Fitbit, etc.) yet, Apple Watch will be first hopefully followed by WearOS devices later
    • No auto-charge support…a real pain point, stick with plastic if you want this feature.
  • Mobile Commute Plans: most regular and university student commute plans are supported including JR West + Osaka Metro/Hankyu/Keihan/Nankai/Hanshin routes, but other commute plan types/routes are not. These include, FREX Shinkansen plans, HS/JHS student plans (launching on Mobile Suica and PASMO March 18), disability discount commute plans, bus and trolley routes, and routes that include the JR West Tsuruga~Ishikawa Hokuriku line that will transfer from JR West to third sector ownership in 2024. Stand alone ICOCA commuter passes for Hankyu, Keihan, Osaka Metro routes that do not include JR West lines are not supported.
Not all commute plans will be available in Mobile ICOCA app at at launch however the new ICOCA~SUGOCA (Honshu~Kyushu) cross region commute plans will be available April 1.

Suica and PASMO together account for roughly 80% of all Japanese transit card issue, ICOCA added in makes that 90%. In other words, 90% of the issued transit card market has mobile service. It will be very interesting to see how the Mobile ICOCA migration works out. I’ll update this post with details as they become available.

Last updated 2021-04-17

Related post: JR West announces Apple Pay ICOCA

PASMO app was rebranded Suica app, expect a similar rebranding experience for ICOCA app when it lands on iOS later this year
Mobile ICOCA setup and use
ICOCA is the last Transit IC card with a double digit million user base to go mobile. Note the decline of PiTaPA (chart based on data from rail-card.com) as ICOCA commuter passes are available from private rail companies (Hankyu, Keihan, Hanshin, etc.)

Migrating to Apple Pay Suica Off-Peak Commute Plan

This video explains the process of refunding a current valid Apple Pay Suica regular commute plan and purchasing the new off-peak commute plan available from today (2023-03-18) with Suica App v3.2.

Related posts also explain off-peak commute plans and barrier-free station tax train fare increases:

Apple Pay Suica • PASMO Commute Plan Guide
The ¥10 barrier-free train station tax fare increase
How much does Suica Off-Peak Commuter Pass really save you?

The ¥10 barrier-free train station tax fare increase

The railway station barrier-free fee system is “a Japanese railway fare system established with the aim of promoting barrier-free railway stations in urban areas” by leveraging a fee on urban railway users in Tokyo, Kansai and Fukuoka areas. It is a barrier-free train station tax if you will, added to regular adult fare and commuter passes but generally not child fares or school commuter passes. The barrier-free tax will cover station infrastructure costs for adding platform doors, elevators, etc., to the designated metropolitan area stations.

From 2023-03-18 most railway companies in the Tokyo area, both JR East and non-JR, raised transit fares to pay this barrier-free station tax. Here is the breakdown for the Greater Tokyo area focusing on JR East.

Suica
A ¥10 fare increase for paper tickets and regular Suica/Transit IC cards In the JR East designated barrier-free tax zone. Suica Commute Plan increases within the same tax zone are listed below. The overall average fare increase is 1.4%.

The Barrier-Free fee increase to JR East regular adult fare and commuter passes in the designated tax zone

Non-JR East Tokyo area railway companies are raising regular fares by ¥10 but commuter passes are a different story.

While barrier-free stations are good thing and not a big tax to pay for all that new infrastructure, the timing could not be worse. Living costs are rising across the board, little increases add up, eating into salaries that are not rising much, if at all. Each transfer on a multiple transit line routes now has increased fare with each transit operator section. For example: my work commute uses JR East and Tokyu lines, the old fare was ¥419, new fare is ¥457.

To help ease the pain, JR East is offering Off-Peak Suica Commuter Passes (plastic)/Commute Plans (Mobile Suica), that offer a 10% discount with the following condition: Off-Peak passes are valid when used outside the designated peak time of the commute plan entry station. If you enter the start point station during peak time, your Suica Off-Peak commute pass is ignored and Suica balance is used to pay fare.

In real world use it simply means if you have an Suica Off-Peak Commuter Pass, don’t enter your start station during the station designed morning ‘Peak Time’ on work days. If you do the commuter pass doesn’t work. Any time outside of ‘Peak Time’ you are good to do. This is much better than the convoluted, often confusing Suica Off-Peak JRE POINT Campaign that ends March 31.

Apple Pay Suica users can purchase Off-Peak commute plans in an upcoming version of Suica App (v5.2.1), but you must purchase a new pass. Regular commute plans can only be renewed as regular commute plans, they cannot be migrated to off-peak plans. School commute plans and passes will not be charged the barrier-free tax which is good news. Another bonus: high school and jr. high school students can add and use Mobile Suica school commute plans staring March 18.

I migrated to an Off-Peak on March 18 and posted a video showing the cancellation~refund of a regular pass, and purchase of a new Off-Peak pass.

Suica App v5.2.1 coming this March will support Off-Peak and High School/Jr.High School student commute plans

PASMO
The situation for PASMO private rail and other non-JR East rail operators is varied:

Keio and Keikyu are raising fares later this year in October.

Regular adult fares are up ¥10 in line with JR East, some have also raised child fares by ¥10. Commuter passes are generally being raised more, and there are no off-peak commuter passes. Kansai area transit operators are raising fares on April 1, Fukuoka on March 27. Be sure to check how the fare and commuter pass increases apply to your local commute situation.

I have update the Apple Pay Suica • PASMO Commute Plan Guide with Suica Off-Peak Commute Plan details.

Related: How much does Suica Off-Peak Commuter Pass really save you?

Published 2023-01-15, Updated 2023-03-24

How much does Suica Off-Peak Commuter Pass really save you?

Peak Time at JR Koenji station
JR East stations in the Off-Peak commute zone have posted station peak times and gate displays will also change during peak time
JR East Off-Peak Commuter Pass PR vid

With the new train schedule and barrier-free transit tariff going into effect on March 18, current Suica Commuter pass users like myself who use the JRE POINT Off-Peak Commuter Point Service that ends this month, face a dilemma: does the Off-Peak Commuter Pass offer the same level of JRE POINT reward savings? Let’s face it, in these inflationary and looming tax increase times, pinching every point to yen counts.

It comes down to 3 choices: (1) a more expensive regular commuter pass that is difficult to swallow without the off-peak transit point return, (2) a less expensive Suica Off-Peak commuter pass without off-peak transit points, (3) no commuter pass with repeat transit points.

As my work place pays commuting expenses based on regular non-commuter pass transit fare, going with the less expensive off-peak commuter pass lets me pocket the difference. So my choice basically comes down to off-peak commuter pass or no commuter pass with repeat transit points, depending on which one gives better JRE POINT returns, better purchase price savings, or both.

Here is a comparison of the price increases for my 6 month commuter pass between JR East Asagaya and Tokyu Ikegami. The route is Chuo-Yamanote-transfer at Gotanda-Ikegami. The JR East portion covers 11 stations and 15 kilometers of track. Tokyu covers 12 stations and 11 kilometers of track.

Right away we can see that the JR East fare increase basically adds the barrier-free tariff, a 1.4% increase. The Tokyu fare increase is more than just the tariff, a lot more at 13.8%, likely including electricity price increases, salary increases, and what not. Tokyu also does not offer an off-peak option.

Now that we have the new commuter pass prices for both JR East and Tokyu, let’s run a simulation to find which configuration has the best JRE POINT returns. For the latter I used the very handy JRE POINT simulator, highly recommended for running reward point numbers. Remember, that off-peak and repeat points only apply to JR East fares.

As my work place covers the regular fare price, old and new regular fare difference is set at zero. Off-Peak points are calculated for 6 months based on 2022 returns. Repeat and recharge points are calculated on 20 round trips between Asagaya and Gotanda a month x 6 months for old and new fares. The return is the purchase difference plus JRE POINT with 1 point = 1 yen.

The simulation results are pretty much in line with my expectations. Suica Off-Peak commuter passes do give you the best value, by a little bit, especially when your company is reimbursing you at regular fare rates, which many companies seem to do. You also get the best value when your commute is exclusive to JR East lines as JR East has not raised fare increases, only adding the barrier-free tariff. The return drops when including connecting non-JR East lines but still give the best overall return. One thing is for certain: if you ride JR East lines regularly with Suica and are not registered with JRE POINT, you are throwing money away.

Gird yourself for the March 18 Suica Off-Peak launch because there will be a online crush of people like me, cancelling and refunding regular passes, and purchasing new off-peak passes. And don’t forget that date is also the launch of Mobile Suica passes for high school and junior high school students. Don’t be surprised if Suica App has a meltdown from the stampede. Good luck with simulations and finding the best way to save on transit costs.

Mobile Suica support has posted special help pages for refunding current regular passes for new off-peak passes and with renewing regular passes to include newly added stations (available from March 18).