Sumitomo to Launch payWave-Based NFC App (Sept. 10, 2013)
Japanese banking group Sumitomo Mistui will launch a new NFC payment service that will be available through all three of the country’s mobile network operators and more than 30 NFC-enabled smartphone models.
Sumitomo’s new service will be based on Visa’s payWave contactless payment technology, which is being pre-installed in many of the new NFC-enabled smartphones coming onto the market, according to a report by NFC World. To use the service, customers must already have a Visa card issued through Sumitomo. Visa cardholders apply for the service over Sumitomo’s Website, and are then issued the bank’s app over the air.
Sumitomo is hoping that incorporating payWave will give the system an advantage over other NFC payment services that are not as popular and widespread globally, the bank told NFC World. payWave can be used to make purchases in-store in more than 40 countries, said telecom provider NTT Docomo, which will support the new system. Sumitomo’s app also is fully compatible with phones serviced by Softbank and KDDI, Japan’s two other major mobile network providers.
