Japan looks to mobile NFC in effort to reduce cash dependency

ERICSSON BUSINESS INNOVATION FORUM, TOKYO: Japan is primed for mobile NFC services as the country aims to move away from being a cash-based society.

That’s the view of Akira Yamaguchi (pictured), executive officer at Japanese consumer finance firm Orient Corporation, who gave an insight into how the technologically advanced nation still remains so dependent on cash.

“Cash dominates; 80 per cent of our transactions are via cash,” he explained. “That’s much higher than other countries such as the US (39 per cent), Korea (36 per cent) and China (38 per cent).”

Touting the benefits of Japan placing more focus on contactless payments, Yamaguchi said the contactless market is worth JPY31 trillion this year, with the prepaid market accounting for more than 75 per cent of that sum (compared to credit cards).

In terms of mobile NFC technology, the Orient Corporation exec said Visa’s payWave and MasterCard’s PayPass services will take off only if they are “convenient, easy-to-use and secure.”

Earlier this week it was announced that Japanese number one operator NTT Docomo will launch mobile NFC services with PayPass on February 5, 2014.