The Cutting Edge of Smart Cards: Japan's Suica Card
This week we're looking at the world of Smart Cards. Yesterday we checked out the Oyster Card, an RFID-powered smart card that millions of Londoners are using to pay for public transport. It's one of the largest implementations of RFID in the western world. However perhaps because of that scale, it's also fairly conservative. Right now the Oyster Card is only used on public transport and there is little Internet functionality available.
We can find a more cutting edge example of smart cards in, where else, Japan. The Suica card - produced by transport company JR East (East Japan Railway Company) - is used on most trains, subways and buses in the Greater Tokyo, Sendai and Niigata regions. It is also used in a variety of micro-payment scenarios.
