Look
inside almost anyone's purse or pocket, and it probably contains
at least a mobile phone and a wallet bulging with bills, coins,
receipts, credit cards, IDs, train or bus
passes and any number of membership cards.
In Japan, that may soon be a thing of the past as the mobile
industry aims to combine the two with a small embedded chip that
can also store money and personal information.
NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's largest mobile operator,
on July 18 became the first operator to launch a wallet phone,
equipped with Sony Corp.'s FeliCa smart
chip, which can be quickly read by passing it over a scanner.
"FeliCa is going to be a basic requirement for me when I
upgrade my phone," said 31-year-old Norihiko Fujimori, who
works for a Japanese Internet Startup in Tokyo. "It'll be
extremely convenient if my phone can contain everything."
The concept of a wallet phone is just getting
off the ground, but the smart chip technology is not new
in Asia.
Tokyo commuters have used "Suica" train passes with
an embedded FeliCa chip for nearly three years, and 9,000 convenience
stores, restaurants and retail outlets around the country accept
pre-paid rechargeable debit cards
known as Edy.
"The biggest advantage of Edy is that it gets rid of coins
and transactions are faster," said Takashi Nakamura, manager
at bitWallet Inc., which operates the Edy network.
Nakamura said it was too early to consider taking the technology
overseas to Europe and the United States, but admitted that bitWallet
decided on the name "Edy," which stands for euro, dollar
and yen, with global ambitions in mind.
In other parts of Asia, Hong Kong residents use "Octopus"
smart cards to access trains, buses, and ferries or pay for merchandise
or parking. Singapore also has a similar system.
In Japan, expectations are high that FeliCa will change the way
consumers and businesses function on a daily basis.
Videogame maker Sega Corp. tested a service in which customers
at its entertainment centers can use FeliCa-compatible mobile
phones to play games.
Credit card company JCB gave employees mobile phones that could
be used as company identification cards and for purchases at vending
machines and in the company cafeteria.
While some consumers express concerns about carrying phones that
contain electronic money and personal information or having their
purchases monitored, J.P. Morgan's Katsuma said it was no different
than carrying a wallet or credit card.
"Everybody doesn't need to carry them," said Katsuma.
"Only people, who are into that sort of thing or are high-end
users, should use them. It's like an airline mileage membership."
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-20 01:00