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NTT DoCoMo Debuts Credit Card Phone

Posted by samzenpus on from the my-phone-is-maxed-out dept.

Scott S. writes "NTT DoCoMo Unveils its new phone allowing a simply wave to pay for items at the supermarket, rent movies, get airplane tickets and more. The i-mode FeliCa serves as a "mobile wallet" that detects weak electronic signals from a reader/writer and can be used when the phone is off. Credit card phones have been an idea in the past and leave it to the Japanese to make one."

11 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. Progression by steveargonman · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yes, of course leave it to the Japaneese. They're a progressive society.

    1. Re:Progression by radio.cgt · · Score: 2, Informative

      saifu = wallet, keitai = mobile phone, So it means, "wallet-phone"

  2. Pretty Old news by I_am_jsking · · Score: 4, Informative

    I live in Japan and these phones have been out for atleast 5 months. That said, I use one and it's really handy. Riding the trains is very nice since I don't have to wait in line to buy tickets any more. Untill the tech. is adopted in more convenience stores outside of the train stations though, I'll still need my change purse.

    As we all know, the japanese love to use cash anyway, so I feel like a tech like this stands a better chance at becomming really really popular in the US or Europe, where credit cards are more commonly accepted. Pretty frequent to have busniess associates of mine get into jams at nice resturants because they don't have enough cash.

    jsking

    1. Re:Pretty Old news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'll answer this.

      If you want to become a FeLiCa-enabled vendor, you must lease your reader directly from DoCoMo. All charges are stamped with a vendor-ID and the reader serial#. In order to get both items of information, a hacker would have to steal the reader from a store, crack it open to get the serial#, and replace the reader without causing any damage.

      If the reader is missing, the vendor is required by contract (strict!) to contact DoCoMo immediately and have that reader decomissioned. The vendor is then liable for the cost of replacing the missing reader, discouraging them from lax physical security in the first place. If the reader is returned to the store in damaged condition such that the tamper-proof seal is broken (which self-reports to DoCoMo), then the machine is decomissioned and all transactions using that serial# are investigated.

      Essentially, you would have to be a DoCoMo employee to pull off something like this successfully.

      Also, the charge always requires a button-press acceptance on the user's part to acknowledge the transaction. If someone were to just wave the reader at your phone, it wouldn't do anything unless you accept the charge (in 30 seconds or so before the transaction times out).

    2. Re:Pretty Old news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      In addition to what I posted above.

      If someone steals your phone, you are faced with the same situation as if someone were to steal your credit card. You'd be liable for some charges, not others. And it would be up to you to have your FeLiCa account blocked immediately.

      In response to this issue, Fujitsu (the only maker of FeLiCa phones) is looking into a biometric reader instead of the 'accept transaction' button mentioned above.

  3. Re:"a simple wave"?!? by DogDude · · Score: 3, Informative

    But seriously, shouldn't a monetary transaction require a signature and/or a passcode, not just a gesture?

    I'm sorry to break it to you, but if you think that traditional credit cards are much more secure, you're kidding yourself. Signatures are pretty useless, since 1. The merchant banks don't require us (businesses that accept credit cards) to check them against any other verified signature 2. A signature is easy to forge, especially when retail workers aren't handwriting experts 3. Merchant banks don't require us to do anything with the signed receipts once we have them. Our merchant bank requires, barring a real, physical card, to check the billing zip code, but even this information should be pretty easy to get. The only protection that credit cards have is the right to dispute charges. But since, these will also be credit cards, the same will apply. Therefore, these new gizmos will be about as secure as existing credit cards: they won't be.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  4. Great idea, but... by nolsen · · Score: 2, Informative
    The funny thing about Japan is you CAN'T use a credit card to buy groceries, rent videos, eat at a lot of restaurants, etc... They are very much a cash-based and cash-loving society.

    The first time I tried to buy groceries in Japan with a CC, the woman looked at my like I was crazy, called her supervisor, who looked at me like I was crazy and called his supervisor, who looked at me like was crazy and called his supervisor, who... Well, if you've lived in Japan you know how their management and beauraucracy can work.

    But I'm sure they'll figure something out.

    Nick
    1. Re:Great idea, but... by fbjon · · Score: 2, Informative

      "Do you know how much debt the average American is in"

      2900$

      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
  5. Old news by rbrome · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is old news in Japan. It was announced back in June:

    http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=888

    But for those of us in the west, there's news, too, such as Nokia yesterday announcing a faceplate accessory that adds this feature to one of their phones:

    http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=994

    And Motorola recently announcing a U.S. trial of this technology together with MasterCard:

    http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=973

    Don't confuse this new NFC-based technology with passive technology like the gas-station keychain things, or touch-based transit passes, campus ID cards, etc. This is different, because it's active and dyanamic - it's integrated with the phone.

    That means it can serve multiple purposes. It can be your cash, credit card, debit card, bus pass, driver's license, and work ID all in one. Then you can download a Java app to the phone that will let it replace your grocery dicount card, too. It really can replace your whole wallet - not just a credit card. That's what's so cool about NFC systems like FeliCa.

  6. it's a debit card by germano · · Score: 3, Informative

    We have these in Japan for a while, and if it's the same, it's a debit card. You can use your phone to transfer money from your credit card (!) to your phone or you can use ATMs to put money in it.
    My phone is capable of that, but I never used. Some convenience stores, video rentals and even Coca-Cola vending machines are planned to be payable using Felica mainly next year, but I still don't see many shops around me where I can use that.

  7. Sometimes a phone is just a phone... by MsGeek · · Score: 2, Informative

    Can I get a phone that is just a phone please? Or a phone that excels in phone-based things?

    Keep a lookout on eBay for the Ericsson r520m. Bluetooth, GPRS data modem, simple black and white screen, simple phone beeps, no camera, no MP3, (unless you get an attachment) no frills. It was popular in Europe amongst business people looking for a no-nonsense phone.

    This was the last phone Ericsson made in Sweden and the last phone before the Sony/Ericsson merger.

    You never see them locked to a carrier because they are not intended for the US market. Europe only if my memory serves me right.

    I just got one more from my friendly neighborhood phone store as a reward for re-upping for another year. They work great under T-Mobile, my carrier for the past year. The extra is there in case mine breaks, or to keep my husband set up with a mobile when Cingular/AT&T drops prepaid TDMA service. It's not a question of if this will happen, but when. Cingular has been moving people from TDMA to GSM already...I don't think they'll stop anytime soon.

    --
    Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.