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Sony rolling out NFC mobile payments for Hong Kong transit services

Published

Oct. 10, 2013

Sony Corp. has announced that mobile solutions incorporating its FeliCa technology will be used in Octopus, a popular Hong Kong contactless smart card payment service used for public transport and retail payment. Octopus Cards Ltd. today announced the public pilot launch of Hong Kong's first Octopus mobile payment service enabled by its newest FeliCa-compatible NFC SIM card product — the Octopus Mobile SIM.

As part of its strategy to develop mobile solutions globally, Sony is collaborating with major SIM manufacturers to incorporate FeliCa-compatible technology into NFC SIM cards. NFC SIM cards are SIM devices that deliver card service functionality for NFC-compatible mobile phones in a secure, multi-application format.

This new joint development with OCL will enable users to access the same services as those offered by the conventional Octopus cards and products, simply by installing the FeliCa-based Applet for Octopus payment services on the NFC SIM card supplied by Gemalto, and inserting this NFC SIM into their NFC-capable smartphone.

When the new services begin, the first compatible handsets will be Sony Xperia models, including Xperia V, Z, ZR, Z Ultra(3G), Z Ultra(LTE) and Z1, fitted with one of these SIM cards and with a subscription to local mobile network operator PCCW-HKT's paid mobile service plan. These handsets will enable consumers to use Hong Kong's popular Octopus services for public transport or retail payment simply by tapping their smartphone on the Octopus card reader.

FeliCa contactless IC card technology has been built into mobile phones in Japan since 2004. A wide variety of card services has been developed, including public transport tickets, electronic money and various types of ID services. The technology is well established in the market, and is showing continued expansion, the announcement from Sony said.

Sony said it also plans to use this latest development as another opportunity to integrate NFC mobile phones with FeliCa technology, to further expand useful services in other countries.

Learn more about contactless/NFC.