In 2010, after years of annoucements and waiting, Europe will finally see the birth of contactless  mobile services. The introduction of an NFC smart chip (Near Field Communication) in mobile telephones, will allow for them to be transformed into a credit card, transit pass, loyalty card or simply an ID badge for trade fairs or offices. After the explosion of smartphones mobile Internet markets, the arrival of NFC will represent a new stage in the mobile revolution.

The multitude of services that this technology renders possible will impact all professions and will contribute to making the mobile an even more essential support for retailers and companies.

Whereas this technology  has been  long-awaited in Europe, one country already benefits fom 5-years experience in this domain: Japan. Considered by many as the undisputed leader of mobility, the archipelago has had Mobile FeliCa, the equivalent of NFC, since 2004, the date of its launch by NTT DoCoMo.

At the end of 2009, more than 60 million handsets in Japan were equipped with a contactless smart chip, and tens of thousands of points of sale on the archipelago accepted it as a mode of payment or as a loyalty card. Various services are currently available from transit passes to money transfers, and joint-ventures have been developed to interlink the loyalty programmes of different brands and retailers.

Some retailers even consider  that Mobile FeliCa has revolutionized their way of marketing, such as McDonald’s, who, with the Kazasu Coupon (coupons dematerialized on mobiles), have saved millions on printing costs every year, customizing its loyalty offers, and have collected a mass of consumer data that has never been seen before.

But the contactless mobile Revolution will take time to establish itself, for it intersects different industries and service: mobility, data processing, loyalty, facilities for points of sale, etc.

With the aim of allowing European operators and service providers to benefit from 5 years of experience with contactless mobile services in Japan, Jap’Presse / InnovAsia Research, an agency specialized in industy monitoring and studies on NTIC in Aisa-Pacific, has published this report.

“Mobile FeliCa in Japan - 5 years of contactless mobile services” presents the main services available on Mobile FeliCa in Japan, its history, the market players' strategies, an analysis of the socio-cultural environment to truly understand the stakes and the choices of large groups, and the teachings drawn from 5 years of commercial testing, notably in terms of uses.

Acknowledgements

“Mobile FeliCa in Japon - 5 years of contactless mobile services: payment, loyalty, transportation” includes a preface by Carl Atsushi HIRANO, guest professor at Harvard Business School and former Executive Director of NTT DoCoMo, consideded as the “Mastermind” of Mobile FeliCa ; and a postface by Jean-Yves Granger, President of the Forum of Contactless Mobile Services in France (http://www.forum-smsc.org ). Both have greatly assisted us with their advice, comments and editing for which we are extremely grateful.

Download the Executive Summary and the Report Summary (PDF)

Télécharger l’Executive Summary et le sommaire du rapport (PDF) - Français