That was quick. When I made the above table for mobile wallet chokepoint, there was no indication we’d get EMV confirmation so quickly. Many were quick to applaud sanctions against Russia to stop the war with Ukraine, and while stopping war is always the right thing to do, hurting citizens […]
QR Code Transit on Hong Kong MTR starts January 23 (Updated)
After a very long preparation period QR Code transit on Hong Kong MTR finally starts on Saturday, January 23. The MTR Fan FaceBook page: Only TWO WEEKS left before the launch of QR code payment on 23 January! For this new service, we have installed about 1,000 QR code scanners […]
Taiwan EasyCard coming to Japan
This is an interesting development, Bank of the Ryukyus announced support for Taiwan EasyCard (aka Taiwan’s Suica). The press release is a little vague but says this is a co-venture for Bank of the Ryukyus to build….wait for it…another contactless payment platform for Japan. A separate Nikkei article (Japanese) quotes […]
You thought the Apple Pay Octopus launch was taking too long? Just ask EasyCard
Japanese transit companies like the JR Group (JR East, JR Central, JR West) are often criticized for being opaque and buddy buddy with politicians, but every transit agency around the world has to deal with politicians and governments on some level. That just comes with the job. Hong Kong, Taiwan […]
Singapore TransitLink Goes EMV
Japanese media reports that Singapore TransitLink has gone all in with EMV contactless for transit with the SimpleGo program starting today, April 4. Mastercard is the first credit/debit card approved for the program with Visa to follow later this year. Using bank cards for transit is what Transit for London […]