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The story
On October 6, JR East announced it will launch a new QR code payment service called “teppay” on October 20. The service links with Mobile Suica and reportedly supports payments that exceed the ¥20,000 limit normally imposed on Suica top-ups. On 5ch’s News Flash+ (ニュース速報+) thread, discussion centered on skepticism toward every railway company rolling out its own separate payment service, the long-term future of the FeliCa standard, and whether Suica’s charge limit is a technical constraint or a deliberate design choice.
Oct 6 (Tue), 14:25 JST
Tetsudo.com
JR East announced on October 6 that it will begin offering the QR code payment service “teppay” starting October 20.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
and having to log in every single time is a pain to deal with
JR West, JR East, the Shinkansen, the point programs, Suica — all of it.
That's the railway industry's biggest weakness, honestly
Some other player is probably going to eat their lunch eventually
Can't be helped — the LDP chopped the railways up into little pieces (referring to the breakup of Japan National Railways into separate regional companies)
And why not just use JRE Points instead of making 'teppay points'
Why do they keep multiplying these things
The FeliCa chip is on its last legs
More and more phones are going to ship without it
I doubt Suica's going to suddenly rot given how widespread it already is, but
long-term the only way it survives is by shifting to Type A/B contactless and QR codes
Visa tap-to-pay is everywhere now, and
out in the regions they've already ditched Suica for credit card tap payments
I literally just wanted to spend over ¥20,000 on Suica
Suica's capped at ¥20,000
You still gotta top it up though (´･ω･`)
That's because the 'poison apple' iPhone dragged its feet on supporting FeliCa for so long
It'd help if it auto-deducted straight from Shohei's bank account
I specifically applied for the Tokyo Station 100th Anniversary edition card, so I plan to keep using it for a while
Though if the physical card's limit were bumped up to around ¥50,000, I wouldn't have to top it up so often
Because they can't raise Suica's charge limit — this is the workaround
Though note — if you're using it as actual Suica, you're still capped at ¥20,000, and you can't tap through the gates with teppay itself
I'll just keep using existing QR codes and Suica like normal
No room for this thing
Isn't it because they want to phase it out?
Or is it just garbage legacy design that can't raise the limit?
The cost of maintaining the system is no joke
I think Suica is fated to fade away eventually
Sure, once downtown rush-hour crowding disappears
Other point programs are probably easier and give better returns
I'd skip it
Since teppay points convert to JRE Points, it might make sense if you want to earn JRE Points using a non-JR credit card — but anyone who actually wants JRE Points probably already has a View Card anyway
Wasn't it based on outstanding issued balance, not the per-charge amount?
Cashless payment makes you buy stuff you don't need — it's bad for you
Lately I've just been going to Drug Cosmos all the time (a discount drugstore chain)
Background and Key Discussion Points
Suica’s ¥20,000 charge limit is said to relate to the processing capacity of the FeliCa chip as well as management standards imposed on e-money issuers under Japan’s Payment Services Act, and while some in the thread suggested it might be the Payment Services Act’s cap, no one verified the specific clause or threshold amount. The backdrop here is that JR Group companies and private railways have spent years building their own IC card economies around Suica, ICOCA, and similar cards; as phones without FeliCa chips become more common and QR code payments spread, teppay is being positioned as a payment method separate from Suica itself. Opinions in the thread split over whether existing Mobile Suica and JRE Points already cover the need, and whether adding yet another new service just fragments usability further.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “[JR East] Mobile Suica to Allow Charges Over ¥20,000 — New QR Payment Service “teppay” Launches October 20.”
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