The touch-payment boarding service by STERA TRANSIT is also compatible with interoperability between different railway operators, but it is not available at stations where the service is not installed.
Sumitomo Mitsui Card aims to expand the use of touch-sensitive payment boarding in preparation for the Osaka-Kansai Expo, which will open in the spring of 2025. 780 stations, including Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway and Sanyo Electric Railway, are expected to make the service available by March 2025. They are also planning to approach JR West and Keihan Electric Railway, which have no plans to introduce the system at this time.
The new system will be introduced at 548 stations in the Kansai and Tokai areas. The stations range from Kintetsu Nagoya Station in the east to Kosoku Nagata Station in the west.
Brands supported are Visa, JCB, American Express, Diners Club, Discover, and UnionPay; Mastercard is not available as of October 28, but is expected to be available by the time the Osaka-Kansai Expo opens in 2025. Usage history can be checked by registering as a member of Q-move, a website provided by QUADRAC.
No advance registration is required, and tourists from overseas and those who do not have a transportation system IC card can use the card they usually use for shopping and other purposes without purchasing a ticket in advance.
stera transit is a service that allows passengers to board a train by holding a touch-sensitive credit card, debit card, or prepaid card, as well as a smartphone or wearable device with the respective card set, over a dedicated reader at the ticket gate.
Sumitomo Mitsui Card held a presentation in Osaka on October 28, attended by representatives from Nankai Electric Railway, which has already introduced sta transit, and four railroad companies (Osaka Metro, Kintetsu, Hanshin, and Hankyu).
Four railroad companies, including Osaka Metro (Osaka City Rapid Transit), Kintetsu, Hanshin Electric Railway, and Hankyu Corporation, will introduce “stera transit,” a public transportation solution provided by Sumitomo Mitsui Card, on October 29.
Railroad operators in the Kansai area that already allow passengers to ride with touch-sensitive payment (as of October 10, 2024)
Nankai Electric Railway
Osaka Monorail
Kyoto Tango Railway
Kobe City Subway
Kobe New Transit
Kobe Electric Railway
Kobe Rokko Railway (Rokko Cable)
Senboku Rapid Transit Railway
According to Visa’s research, credit card touch payments are spreading rapidly around the world, with touch payments accounting for 80% of in-person payments in the United States. In Japan, the percentage was just over 10% in the spring of 2023, and has recently increased to 40%.
Regarding the use of touch payment for transportation, Mr. Yukihiko Onishi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sumitomo Mitsui Card, said, “Transportation use is growing rapidly around the world, with more than 830 public transportation systems having adopted the system. In London, 90% of trains, subways, buses, etc. will support touch payment boarding,” he introduced.
The company is also developing a new MaaS app and is considering offering a service that connects multiple public transportation and non-transportation consumer activities using common cloud data from stera transit. As a first step, the company plans to sell planning tickets starting in March 2025.
Mr. Masatoshi Ishizuka, General Manager of Sumitomo Mitsui Card’s Transit Business Promotion Department, commented on the benefits to users of the new service: “When foreign tourists take a train, it is time-consuming for them to exchange money into Japanese yen and then wait in line at the station counter, and it is difficult to operate ticket vending machines. The touch-settlement boarding service will reduce congestion at ticket counters and ticket vending machines, and will also help eliminate overtourism.
For domestic users, there is no need to recharge in advance, which prevents insufficient balances, and some credit card companies offer points for boarding. In addition, the service can provide more flexible services for daily users, such as maximum discounts, one-way discounts, off-peak and regional discounts,” he explained.
In addition, as a benefit to transportation operators and the Kansai region, he explained, “By linking not only railroads and buses, but also commercial facilities, tourist facilities, and administrative services, we can analyze in more detail what kind of demand exists at which stations, such as the language of information displays and the content of station advertisements.
Motoharu Hori, Managing Director and General Manager of the Transportation Business Division in charge of overall transportation business at Osaka Metro, commented on behalf of the four railroad companies that will introduce stera transit, “Touch-payment boarding will be very effective as a measure against congestion at Yumeshima Station on the Chuo Line, which will open on January 19, 2025. The touch-payment boarding system is also very effective as a measure against congestion at Yumeshima Station on the Chuo Line, which opens on January 19, 2025.
He continued, “Automatic ticket gates were first installed at Hankyu Railway’s Kitasenri Station in 1967, and became popular after the Japan World Exposition (Expo ’70 Osaka). I hope that touch-sensitive payment boarding will also take root as a boarding method after the Osaka-Kansai Expo in 2025,” he said.
As for other Osaka Metro initiatives, he appealed, “We have been providing a digital ticket service using QR codes since June, and we are also introducing faster and more sophisticated ticket gate machines, such as face recognition ticket gate machines.
Nankai Electric Railway introduced stera transit in April 2021. At that time, demonstration tests were conducted at 18 stations, but as of October 28, the number had expanded to 42 stations, and preparations are underway to make the system available at almost all stations by the end of FY2024.
While the majority of usage is in Japan, the number of overseas users is also increasing, especially in Europe, the U.S., and Asia, and the number of users in 2023 will be more than six times that in 2021.
Mr. Tomoshi Kajitani, Director, Managing Executive Officer and General Manager of the Public Transportation Group’s Railway Business Division, said, “The introduction of touch-settled boarding by Osaka Metro, Kintetsu, Hanshin, and Hankyu will greatly enhance the convenience of rail travel in the Kansai area. We would like to expand our partnerships with other public transportation systems and commercial facilities and develop services that better meet the needs of our customers based on usage data from these systems,” he added.
During the talk session in the latter half of the presentation, Tsuyoshi and Reiji Nakagawa of the Nakagawa family, representing railroad enthusiasts, as well as Miki Murai, pretending to be a traveler, appeared touching their cards to the ticket gate.
Mr. Murai, a self-proclaimed “soft railroad fan,” commented on the introduction of the touch payment system, “It’s really convenient to be able to use the credit card I usually use for shopping to take the train as well.
Reiji imitated him, saying, “I wonder if there will be any old guys who look at the fare list all the time. When Tsuyoshi said, “If it’s a smooth ride, it’s perfect for impatient Kansai people,” Reiji quickly commented, “Kansai people like to earn points and save money,” eliciting laughter from the audience.
© Source travel watch
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