As more companies transition work style away from daily commuting to a central office to telework with direct business trips from home, there is less need for commuter passes but that means more corporate virtual paperwork and paper trails for filing and processing transit expenses. How nice it would be […]
The truth is in the tap
The Nankai Visa Touch test launch launched endless Twitter discussions about slow EMV contactless tap speeds and performance issues compared with Suica and other Transit IC cards. EMV contactless transit in Japan is novel so this is expected. But suddenly people are also referencing Junya Suzuki’s 2016 pre-Apple Pay Suica […]
JR Transit Ides of March 2021
March is the traditional month for transit companies to rollout new schedules and services. March 2021 is an exceptionally busy one with many updates, here are the important ones. March 1JR East Suica Repeat Transit Point Service (Suica/Mobile Suica): make the same trip 10 times a month earn a free […]
JR Central EX-Press Reserve eTicket upgrade ditches Shinkansen IC cards for Transit IC cards (Updated)
EX-Press Reserve (also called EX-Press Ride) is the sister service of smartEX that uses the same EX app and system with deeper discounts aimed at Japanese business travelers. It also comes with a special EX Transit IC card just for Shinkansen gates with a unique ‘double card’ tap (EX IC […]
Reader Question: what’s the point of Apple Pay My Suica?
A reader asked a very good question: what’s the point of an Apple Pay My Suica? Can’t you already migrate a normal ‘unregistered’ Suica to another device if you loose your device? There are 3 basic Suica plastic card categories: unregistered, registered (My Suica) and commuter. PASMO and all other […]