Users of Google Pay in Japan can now add their Suica and WAON cards to the app.
These are two major prepaid payment cards in the country, both based on Sony-developed FeliCa NFC technology. While both cards enjoy popularity, the Suica support could prove particularly advantageous to Google Pay users as the card is accepted for transit fare on numerous train lines, and is popular with merchants along those transit networks as well; it’s why Apple was so keen to get Suica support for its own mobile payments platform when it was launched in the country in the autumn of 2016.
In a blog post announcing the new payment cards support, Google Consumer Payments Product Management Director Gerardo Capiel noted that it “means four major Japanese prepaid e-money cards—nanaco, Rakuten Edy, Suica and WAON—can all be used with Google Pay,” adding that they can be used at “hundreds of locations” in the country. Capiel also noted that Google Pay allows transit users to “check your commuter pass, bullet train, and green ticket details”.
The support represents a further expansion of Google Pay’s presence in Japan after the company announced that JCB, a major Japanese credit card company, announced it would support the platform for in-store payments later this year.
Source: The Keyword
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