TOKYO, April 17, 2014 - Rakuten Edy, Inc. and TF Payment Service Co.,Ltd., a subsidiary company of Toppan Forms Co., Ltd. announce that they have developed a payment platform that enables users to make payments using Rakuten Edy e-money with “Osaifu Keitai®”-equipped smartphones (hereinafter referred to as simply “smartphones”). With this platform, for the first time in Japan it is now possible to make e-money payments using only a smartphone as a terminal without the need for any other external devices.
The service will initially be used at a baseball game on Friday, April 18 featuring the “Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles” team operated by Rakuten Baseball, Inc. Spectators in some areas of the Rakuten Kobo Stadium Miyagi stadium* will be able to purchase beer with Rakuten Edy e-money using smartphones as payment terminals. The aim is to provide the service in all sections of “Rakuten Kobo Stadium Miyagi” by summer 2014.
The service involves using a payment application that utilizes the reading function of “Osaifu Keitai®”-equipped smartphones in conjunction with the cloud platform “Thincacloud.” Business operators only need to conclude a Rakuten Edy affiliated store contract and download the application to a smartphone in order to use it as an e-money payment terminal.
The service can be used for a wide range of applications including for example, outdoor events, and conveyance and delivery services. TF Payment Services is planning to make the application available from digital content distribution platforms such as Google Play (TM), and widely popularize it as a new smartphone-based e-money payment method.
Both companies will continue working on further providing new operating environments where smartphones can be used as e-money payment terminals.
*Limited to the stands behind home base