Mobile Payment Promotion Council Established in Japan.

Tokyo, Japan, Oct 26, 2005 - (JCN Newswire) - The Mobile Payment Promotion Council was established on October 25 with the mission of promoting standardized mobile contactless payment systems in Japan. The executive board of the council is composed of representatives from Aeon Credit Service Co., Ltd., Central Finance, Credit Saison Co., Ltd., DC Card Co. Ltd., JCB Co., Ltd., JTB Corp., KDDI Corporation, OMC Card, Inc., Orient Corporation, Toyota Finance Corporation, UC Card Co., Ltd., UFJ Nicos Co., Ltd., and Vodafone K.K.

While a number of mobile payment schemes have made an appearance in the Japanese market, the Mobile Payment Promotion Council believes that a standardized payment infrastructure is an indispensable foundation for efficient payment system operations and that an integrated environment is the key to providing the most convenience to consumers and merchants.

The Mobile Payment Promotion Council was founded with two major purposes. The first is to discuss models for more effective operations in consideration of the multiple contactless payment products in the field, in order to reduce complexity for consumers and merchants. The second is to promote QUICPay, the Council's recommended contactless payment product, with a unified acceptance mark for contactless payments, and intercompatible merchant terminals.

The QUICPay contactless solution, launched by JCB in 2003, combines the freedom of form factor made possible by the card account link concept with a fast offline payment solution for supermarkets, convenience stores and other venues where speed is important. In fact, transaction times of less than one second are standard for offline payment, much quicker than payment by cash. And unlike conventional prepaid accounts, the postpay contactless credit solution allows users to allocate a portion of their credit card limit to QUICPay, with purchases charged to their monthly credit card bill.

The Council has 39 members at present, with 10 other corporations currently considering participation. The Council will continue to extend invitations to participate to potential members from a wide range of industries, including credit card companies, payment system operators, mobile network operators, financial services companies, system vendors, and travel agencies, and will function as an open framework for members to cooperate in the promotion of a standardized platform.

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