In Japan, Toyama Chihou Tetsudou Inc. on March 14 began issuing a contactless card called Ecomyca that transit riders may use to access all Toyama tram and rail lines. Mutual interoperability also simultaneously began between Ecomyca and Passca, another contactless card issued in 2006 by competitor Toyama Light Rail Co. Ltd., Toyama Chihou Tetsudou says.
Passengers with Ecomyca or Passca cards now both are eligible for the discounted day fare of 170 yen (US1.88 or 1.37 euros) on both systems, instead of the regular fare of 200 yen. Toyama Chihou Tetsudou hopes to issue 1 million Ecomyca cards in 2010.
”Like Passca, Ecomyca also adopts the Felica chip, a contactless technology developed by Sony Corp.,” Toyama Chihou Tetsudou spokesperson Masaru Akagawa tells PaymentsSource. “We are planning to enable our passengers to use Ecomyca at other facilities, such as convenience stores.”
Consumers already may use Passca cards in some of the local shops under Toyama Chihou Tetsudou’s bonus points scheme, the spokesperson says.
In Japan, approximately 60% of the population uses contactless payment, or e-money, primarily for convenience and to get bonus points, according to research conducted in February by the online research firm Goo Research, a joint venture of NTT Resonant Inc. and Mitsubishi Research Institute, both based in Tokyo.
