Interest Grows In Japanese Mobile E-Purse

Card Technology reports on the Japanese Edy contactless electronic purse and bitWallet, the operator of the scheme.

According to published reports, however, overall monthly Edy transactions topped 10 million for the first time in June.

Earlier this year, a bitWallet source told Card Technology that average transaction amounts for Mobile Edy were running 20% higher than the roughly 400 yen ($3.80) consumers spent with Edy cards. The operator believes the higher transaction amounts may be because consumers can view their purse balances on their handset screens and can top up the account over the mobile network.

About 20,000 merchants in Japan accept Edy cards and Mobile Edy. BitWallet recently enabled users to transfer Edy value from person to person.