Apple Pay is now live in Japan. The news comes following the release of iOS 10.1 and watchOS 3.1 earlier today. Apple Pay payments are now available to pay for purchases, and more importantly transit tickets, in Japan.
iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and Apple Watch Series 2 devices sold in Japan all include support for that country’s FeliCa payments standard, in addition to the devices’ usual NFC support. FeliCa is widely adopted in the country, and is used to quickly pay for transit tickets, make purchases in cafes, stores, and vending machines, where Suica prepaid money card, QuicPay, or iD are accepted.
Users simply need to add their Suica card or Suica commuter card to the Wallet app on their device. Once added, the users’ device can then be used in the place of the standard Suica card.
Apple Pay in Japan works with credit and debit cards offered by American Express, JCB, Mastercard, Aeon Financial, Orico, Credit Saison, SoftBank, d Card, View Card, MUFG Card, and a number of others.
While an iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, or Apple Watch Series 2 is required to to make purchases in stores and for transit tickets in Japan, users of the iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, SE, iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, and the iPad mini 3 and later can use their devices to make payments in apps and on the web.
Today’s addition of Japan means 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.
(Via MacRumors)
