March is always the month for new train schedules and services and 2024 is no different. JR East will be adding a significant Suica service expansion to 21 stations in the Yamagata region on March 16, the first big expansion since the May 2023 Suica 2.0 rollout in Iwate, Aomori […]
Mobile Payments
Thoughts on Suica 2.0
The Suica 2.0 launch in the Tohoku region on May 27 is not simply a launch. It marks the transition to a whole new business model for JR East. The future is Suica as a mobile payment and services platform that leverages JR East transit infrastructure. It has to be […]
Apple
The Apple Pay monopoly debate part 2: the gatekeeper difference
I’ve always said people should pay attention to the Japan mobile payments market because there is a lot to learn from the successes and failures of the world’s first large scale mobile payment platform. There are important lessons when it comes to the EU Apple Pay monopoly debate and the […]
Apple - Apple Pay + Wallet - Apple Pay PASMO - Apple Pay Suica - Apple Wallet - iPhone - Mobile Payments - NFC - NFC-Felica - Suica
iOS 16 Wallet: expanding the Apple Pay experience, aka Suica auto-charge for the rest of us
iOS 15 added big new features to Wallet, expanding digital keys from cars to include home, office and hotels and ID in Wallet driver licenses for the first time. There were smaller but important UI changes too. A new add card screen offered new categories making is easy to add […]
Apple - Apple Pay + Wallet - EMV - FeliCa - MIFARE - NFC - NFC tags
Apple Platform Security May 2022: Tap to Pay on iPhone, Express Mode scare mongers and other fun
Ahh springtime, flowers and the annual Apple Platform Security (APS) update. This year’s version has many Apple Pay housekeeping changes. Previous versions put everything Apple Pay in a single section. In keeping with Apple spinning out iOS 15 Wallet app as a separate identity, Wallet has its own separate section […]