Tag: NFC-V

Apple Pay Japan 2020 Wrap Up Wish List

A two word summary for people in a hurry: COVID and PASMO. As everybody in Japan knows at this point, COVID drove cashless payment use more than any government program could, or anything else for that matter. Cashless went from being the perennial ‘next big thing’ to first choice at checkout in a surprisingly short time with a growing number of ‘cashless only’ places. Here’s a short recap of the best and worst all things Apple Pay Japan in 2020.

The Worst: Face ID Apple Pay
COVID meant mandatory face mask wear outside the home. iPhone Face ID users outside of Asia quickly learned that Face ID and especially Face ID Apple Pay really sucks with face masks. Apple tweaked Face ID slightly to alleviate the issue but this is a long term problem with no short term workaround. Apple had the foresight to resurrect Touch ID in iPhone SE 2, the right device coming at the right time. For the time being it will hold up the middle and lower range iPhone user base in Japan. Face ID is such a marketing embarrassment right now that Apple only features Touch ID recharge on the Apple Pay PASMO page. The real short term future proof Face ID Apple Pay fix is Apple Watch.

The Biggest: Apple Pay PASMO
Mobile PASMO finally joined Mobile Suica, first on Osaifu Keitai Android then Apple Pay, the biggest and most important launch for Apple Pay Japan in 2020. Suica and PASMO combined represent 80% of the entire transit IC card market. In terms of pure usability, a large and diverse installed base, with Express Transit powered transit and purchases on iPhone and Apple Watch, PASMO easily beat all other Apple Pay service rollouts this year. Apple had VIP execs and foreign media on hand at the press event, something they haven’t done since the Apple Pay Japan launch in 2016.

The Most Influential: Toyota Wallet
The Toyota Wallet App rollout I wrote about a year ago turned out to be the model everybody is doing now: ‘XX Pay’ or ‘XX Wallet’ app consisting of a user account linked to a bank or credit card with a flexible payment dual mode front end offering QR Code payment via the app and a ‘instant issue’ prepaid card in Apple Pay Wallet. The Apple Pay Line Pay card launched on December 22 is the exact same model. Instant app issue debit and prepaid Wallet cards do away with plastic issue costs and lower the user entry bar, amount other things. Expect more of this in 2021, actually expect everybody to do this in 2021.

The WildCard: App Clips
iOS 14.3 App Clip Code support completed the picture for App Clip developers, but it will take time to see how they play out in a market overcrowded with mobile payment options. I think there is always a chance for a low cost high quality service which intelligently designed App Clips can deliver. The key will be solving the Japanese Softcream Cashless Index (SCI) Challenge: can App Clip cashless do a faster more reliable job than good old food ticket vending machines, without an app and without an account? How streamlined can it be and still be an App Clip? I hope we can find the answers to those questions in 2021… but there’s one more thing.

The Missing: Apple Pay Code Payments
The iOS 14 Apple Pay AliPay/Apple Pay Code Payment has been in open secret test mode for nearly a year with no firm release in sight. If screenshots are anything to go by, Apple Pay Code Payments are done with a virtual Wallet ‘card’ like any other and Apple Pay Wallet cards have certain properties:

  • Direct side button Wallet activation with automatic Face/Touch ID authentication and payment at the reader.
  • Device transactions handled by the eSE without a network connection.
  • Ability to set a default main card for Apple Pay use.

Supporting QR Code payments with an Apple Pay Wallet ‘card’ moves QR payments out of the app and removes some, but not all, of the QR payment friction points. It makes App Clips a better user experience too when all payments can be accomplished with Apple Pay.

Ultimately I hope the Apple Pay Wallet card model moves away from single mode technology and evolves to multimode awareness that encompasses NFC, Ultra Wideband, QR, etc. It has too. Our smartphones must be smart and take care of any payment technology for us. They have to because things are only going to get more complicated. People ridicule the Japanese payments landscape but that will be everywhere. Card companies and banks push EMV as a ‘global standard’ but EMV already comes in different flavors like PBOC, so does NFC (NFC A-B-F-V), and Ultra Wideband is joining the mix.

That’s what digital payments are all about: combining complex things into ‘it just works’ simplicity. Anybody can create or load a Suica, Octopus or PASMO into Apple Pay, without signing up or creating a new account, and start using it for lots of different instant payments. That’s how simple it should always be. That’s my 2021 Apple Pay wish.

Best wishes for a happy and safe 2021.

UPDATE: Reader Apple Pay Wishes for 2021

>Mine would be for VISA Japan to support Apple Pay.

>Mine are resurrecting #FeliCa-based @VisaJP TOUCH (can be rebranded), @id_credit re-attempts @ #FeliCa network expansion overseas starting w/ equipping end-users w/ the technology in new card distribution (via digital & physical), & @JCB_CARD expands @QUICPay_PR network overseas.

Is there an App Clip Code for that?

Embedded NFC integrated App Clip Code (L) and Scan-only App Clip Code (R)

iOS 14.3 is the big coming out party for App Clips now that App Clip Codes are in place. Apple posted App Clip Code HIG documentation, App Clip Code Generation tools and more. There are lots of interesting tidbits and 3 ways to engage:

  • iPhone XS and later models with NFC reader mode: “The NFC-integrated variant uses an iPhone icon at its center that guides people to hold their device close to the App Clip Code.”
  • Pre iPhone XS models without NFC reader mode: “scan it using the NFC Tag Reader in Control Center.”
  • All iPhones using Camera app or Code Scanner: “scan-only variant uses a camera icon in its center to let people know to use the Camera app or the Code Scanner in Control Center to scan the App Clip Code.”

The guideline also states, “for NFC-integrated App Clip Codes, choose Type 5 NFC tags.” Type 5 tags are ISO 15693/NFC V used for library books, medical packaging, ski passes etc., but choose instead of use is a recommendation not a rule. Core NFC lists ISO7816, ISO15693, FeliCa, and MIFARE tag support. NFC Forum Tag definitions are:

NFC Forum TagISOJISNFCProducts/Protocol
Type 1ISO 14443-3-A–ATOPAZ, various
Type 2ISO 14443-3-AANXP MIFARE Ultralite
Type 3ISO 18093JIS X 6319-4FSony FeliCa
Type 4ISO 14443-4-A
ISO 14443-4-B		A/BNXP MIFARE DESFire
Type 5ISO 15693VNXP ICODE, various
The Wikipedia NFC tag table is also helpfully detailed

So why is Apple going to all this trouble to market App Clip Codes? They could have done it all with QR Codes and NFC tags but App Clips are mini apps, App Store quality apps without the App Store. The branding of App Clip Codes defines a different and unique user experience. The NFC reader mode App Clip experience is slick ‘point and run’ fun, but the 2 for 1 ‘scan only or NFC embedded’ in one App Clip Code is practical: (1) physically accessible and close = NFC, (2) physically inaccessible or far away = code scan.

There will be many different App Clip user experiences running from general app launches to specific actions. Based on my Kitasando Coffee App Clip experience I would say, the quicker and more focused the App Clip experience, the more likely the user will use it again or go in for the full app. Apple’s HIG documentation emphasizes clarity and simplicity…good advice.

Now all I want to know is when can I finally buy softcream with an App Clip.

Practical advice from App Clip HIG