Tag: Core NFC

Ride the Rails with Apple Pay Suica and Earn JRE POINT

The enhanced NFC functions of iOS 13 could not have come at a better time for the Japanese market. The great 10% consumption tax cashless experiment begins October 1 when the tax hike becomes effective and the Japanese government starts giving 2%~5% refunds for cashless payments via established card point systems. The ‘My Number‘ Japanese Individual Number card will be a centerpiece for getting those point rebates and the Japanese government has already announced iOS 13 support for My Number card. The whole rebate/refund thing is clear as mud but exciting too. Suica is listed as one of the many e-money cards eligible for consumption tax refunds/rebates. Suica consumption tax point refunds will be delivered via JRE POINT.

JR East added to the excitement today with the announcement that starting October 1 Suica users can earn JRE POINT simply by riding the rails. Mobile Suica transit users (Apple Pay Suica, Google Pay Suica, Osaifu Keitai Suica) earn 1 JRE POINT per 50 yen of IC transit fare, plastic Suica cards earn 1 JRE POINT per 200 yen of IC transit fare.

That’s a huge incentive to drive transit users from plastic Suica to Mobile Suica. The same JRE POINT rates apply to Green Car Seat purchases. And get this, only Mobile Suica Commuter Plan purchases and renewals are eligible for JRE POINT with 1 JRE POINT per 50 yen of the purchase/renewal. This is a sweet deal if your company sponsors your commuter pass. They give you the money, you get the points. Ugh, now I have to hold off renewing my Apple Pay Suica Commute Plan until October 1 but the points are worth going without my commute plan for a few days. JR East’s big push for Mobile Suica over plastic is remarkable and will become a shove when the next generation ‘Super Suica’ format arrives in April 2021.

To earn points the Suica card must be registered to a JRE POINT account. The JRE POINT account setup process has gotten a little more streamlined, and the iOS JRE POINT App a little less clunky over the past year. Mobile Suica and JRE POINT systems are now dynamically linked so you don’t need to worry if the Apple Pay Suica card ID number changes.

Today’s announcement only applies to regular train travel but JR East will be adding a lot more in 2020~2021 as the Super Suica start date approaches: JRE POINT for Touch and Go Shinkansen travel starts with the new JR East eTicket system in April 2020, Round trip fixed travel route coupon-like JRE POINT is due December 2020. And finally, with Super Suica in place, the regular express train/Shinkansen ‘EkiNet‘ ticketing and point system will be rolled into the JRE POINT system. Travelers can then earn and use JRE POINT to purchase regular express train and Shinkansen eTickets and upgrade seats. It will be Apple Pay Super Suica eTicket bliss.

Tokyo Cashless 2020: Dear JR East, we need a new Suica Charge App

1️⃣ >Dear JR East, we need a new Suica Charge App
2️⃣ Consumption tax relief with the CASHLESS rebate program
3️⃣ Are Apple Maps and Siri really Apple Pay level ready for the Tokyo Olympics?
4️⃣ Blame the Japan Cashless Payments mess on VISA and EMVCo, not FeliCa

Tokyo Cashless 2020 is a series covering all things cashless as Japan gears up for the big event. If there is a topic that you’d like covered tweet me @Kanjo

Now that iOS 13 with supercharged Core NFC is almost here, it’s time for JR East to junk the old Suica Charge app for Sony PaSoRi FeliCa reader combo on life support until the plug is pulled in September 2020, and create a new Core NFC supercharged app for iOS 13. Since any iPhone 7 and later has the ability to Read/Write FeliCa cards build a whole new app around iPhone as the NFC read/write device. Here are some other helpful suggestions:

  • Make the app multilingual, or at least support English in addition to Japanese
  • Cooperate with the other major transit card companies to support all compatible Japanese transit IC cards for recharging, not just Suica
  • Support international issue credit/debit card registration in the app so that anybody from anywhere can recharge plastic transit IC cards with their bank card
  • Support In-App Apple Pay for recharging
  • Support the app on Non-Osaifu Keitai Android phones that can read/write NFC-F, there are lots of them out there coming to Tokyo in 2020, support Google Pay for In-App recharging too

There is an ocean of plastic Japanese transit IC cards out there. There are lots of Android users, and even iPhone users, who cannot use Apple Pay Suica or Google Pay Suica. A handy Suica recharge app that lets inbound travelers recharge plastic transit cards on the go with just a smartphone is screaming to be born, it would be an essential tool in alleviating station recharge kiosk lines during the Tokyo Olympics. JR East, please make it happen.

Update: I forgot that JR East already announced the end of “Suica Internet” services in September 2020. Suica Internet is a set of internet based services for online shopping and recharging Suica cards with the Sony PaSori reader and a Windows PC. JR East is pruning legacy services as they prepare for the next generation Super Suica rollout in April 2021.

Dear Apple: We need a Global NFC iPad

Now that iOS 13 is almost here, it’s time to sit down and think about the enhanced Core NFC Read/Write functionality and what it means for iOS/iPadOS. Core NFC “requires a device that supports Near Field Communication.” Theoretically this means iPhone and Apple Watch, but the reality is that only iPhone iOS supports Core NFC, NFC Tag Read/Write and new services like NFC Tag Apple Pay that use Background NFC Tag reading.

Until now nobody has discussed the need for a NFC capable iPad. Without the enhanced Core NFC functions of iOS 13 which limited NFC to Apple Pay Wallet card, there wasn’t a reason. After all who would want to use iPad for Apple Pay Suica transit in Tokyo, you’d look as silly as watermelon man (watermelon in JP = suika…get it?).

But iOS 13 Core NFC changes all this: sure you still don’t want to use an NFC iPad at the checkout line, but businesses would love an NFC iPad loaded with all kinds of enhanced Core NFC apps to do all kind of work as all-in-one mobile POS systems, factory inventory NFC tag read/write systems, and much more. Imagine how an NFC iPad bundled with Recuit’s AirPAY would appeal to Tokyo area businesses as they gear up for the 2020 Olympics. The possibilities are interesting and not insignificant.

What is the optimum global NFC iPad hardware configuration? Background NFC tag reading ability is an absolute must which means A12 Bionic is the minimum support configuration. Outside of that I would say: iPad Air and iPad mini, not iPad Pro, a NFC + cellular model, and a WiFi only model. The NFC iPad needs to be as inexpensive as possible with A12 Bionic and Touch ID. I think it could do well.

iOS 13 FeliCa NFC Reader Apps

With the official release of iOS 13 quickly approaching we are starting to see new app announcements built around iOS 13 enhanced Core NFC Read/Write functions. This is the first time that the full range of iPhone NFC Read/Write has been unlocked for developers. In Japan this is especially important because there are so many FeliCa transit cards out there, almost everyone in Japan has one or more Suica, PASMO, ICOCA, TOICA, etc. There are also the ‘My Number’ Japanese Individual Number Card which is evolving into a national identity card. The Japanese government already supports Android and has announced iOS 13 support.

People need to have an easy way to read card information but for iPhone users this meant buying a separate FeliCa NFC reading device and software for Mac or PC, or borrowing an Osaifu Keitai Android smartphone.

The great thing about iOS 13 on iPhone is that a separate NFC/FeliCa reading device is no longer necessary. iOS 13, iPhone, an app are all you need. Two Japanese FeliCa iOS 13 apps were announced yesterday on Twitter: IC Card Reader and Japan NFC Reader. These are focused on transit IC cards and other FeliCa stored value cards like WAON and nanaco. This is what most people need because there is so much FeliCa plastic out there. People want to know how much balance is left on the card when out and about. Hopefully these and other apps sure to follow, will blossom into full fledged apps that support reading My Number cards and much more.

UPDATE: the first FeliCa NFC read/write app using iOS 13 Core NFC arrives on JP App Store, IC Card Reader by Money Forward. Check it out, it’s slick.

  • IC Card Reader on the JP App Store
  • It read my old PASMO, very handy

Titanium Apple Card activation with background NFC tag reading

  • Titanium Apple Card activation on iPhone XR/XS
  • Titanium Apple Card activation on iPhone X and earlier

Apple Card is rolling out to limited number preview users in America with a full release due by the end of August. In case you didn’t notice, Apple has posted 2 videos for activating the Titanium Apple Card: a video for A12 Bionic iPhone XR/XS with background NFC tag reading, and a video for non-A12 Bionic iPhones without background NFC tag reading ability. This marks the first time Apple has put A12 Bionic background NFC tag reading ability to use, almost a year since the new functionality appeared.

For the background NFC tag version, all the user does is wake the screen, unlock and hold iPhone near the card, background NFC tag reading takes over automating the rest. As you might expect the activation process on non-A12 Bionic iPhone is more manual: open Wallet, select Apple Card, tap Activate. The video cleverly removes the card selection process with Apple Card ready and waiting in Wallet.

It’s a small thing, but gives us a clue how Apple will implement iOS 13 NFC Tag Apple Pay on non-A12 Bionic iPhone: open Wallet, select a card, tap, read. It’s not as slick as background NFC tag reading certainly, but gets the job done.