Apple Pay Now Live in Japan

applepayjapanFollowing the release of iOS 10.1 this morning, Apple has activated Apple Pay in Japan, making it available for use at all locations that accept the Suica prepaid money card, QuicPay, or iD.

Apple Pay in Japan is unique because rather than exclusively using NFC, it also supports the FeliCa payments standard that’s been widely adopted in the country. iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models sold in Japan include a FeliCa chip, as do Apple Watch Series 2 models.

iPhone 7 and 7 Plus users in Japan can now use their iPhones to make purchases in cafes, purchase transit tickets, make purchases in apps and on websites, replace a Suica card, and more.

To use a Suica card with Apple Pay, customers in Japan will need to add their Suica card or Suica commuter card to the Wallet app. Once added, the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus can be used in place of a standard card.

Apple Pay in Japan works with credit and debit cards issued by American Express, JCB, Mastercard, Aeon Financial, Orico, Credit Saison, SoftBank, d Card, View Card, MUFG Card, and more.

An iPhone 7, 7 Plus, or Apple Watch Series 2 is required to make purchases in stores and at transportation facilities in Japan. The iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, and SE, along with iPad Pro models, the iPad Air 2, and the iPad mini 3 and later, can be used to make payments within apps and on the web.

Apple Pay is now available in 12 countries, including the U.S., UK, China, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, France, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Japan.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

Top Rated Comments

BMcCoy Avatar
98 months ago
This is really big news - the Suica card system is huge in Japan, from travel to vending machines.
This will absolutely drive increased iPhone sales in Japan.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
krause734 Avatar
98 months ago
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macfacts Avatar
98 months ago
I got the impression from a previous story that it was Japanese models only.

I don't enough about the Suica system to know if it is straightforward NFC, and therefore compatible with all iPhones with Apple Pay.

Would definitely be a bonus for visitors to Japan.. if there was an easy way to add Suica to your iPhone wallet. You then barely need to obtain any local Yen currency!
Adding support for it outside of Japan is not going to happen because that would be millions of phones that need additional licensing fees to someone else.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mavis Avatar
97 months ago
Sorry, trying to understand this. So you're saying if I have a Japanese unlocked iPhone 7, I do a factory reset on it and activate it with a foreign SIM, then change the SIM to my regular Japanese SIM, I could bypass the photo shutter?
No. It only works if the first SIM card used to activate the phone is non-Japanese.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mavis Avatar
97 months ago
Legally required; but silent with live picture ... ;)
Not to split hairs, but it's not legally required here. Also, live pictures are great, but don't help when you're taking a screenshot on a train, etc ...
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pesos Avatar
98 months ago
TBH while it's a nice to have in a phone it's not that different than having pull your wallet out of your pocket and touch it to the reader (although you're somewhat more likely to already have your phone out and in your hand). That's why we went the watch route - with twins to haul around it's a real pain to have to get something out of a pocket. I got really good at just throwing my hip/butt up onto the turnstile reader as I passed by since my hands were always full of babies/crap (not literal crap).
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....