JCB plans to expand its current J/Speedy contactless card technology to allow Japanese consumers to make cross-border payments with EMV-chip cards or through smartphones and wearable devices.
The Japanese payments network says it will begin testing the new Near Field Communication payment service in Tokyo this month. A commercial rollout is scheduled for 2015, the company announced July 1.
The new J/Speedy service will conform to all EMV chip-card standards and international NFC payment protocols. JCB's existing contactless payment services include QuicPay in Japan and a J/Speedy contactless card in Taiwan, first introduced in 2007 and developed by sharing Visa Asia Pacific's contactless specifications, the company says.
The new J/Speedy solution is an upgrade of the version used in Taiwan. The new version supports cross-border transactions, JCB International's Tac Watanabe states in a press release.
"As card payment markets develop in emerging economies in Asia and smartphones become widespread, the need for contactless card and mobile payment is growing," Watanabe says. "We will continue to provide a wide variety of payment services through the worldwide market, as well as build a payment infrastructure in Japan for inbound travelers."
