East Japan Railway (JR East) announced a 10-year plan Tuesday to dramatically revamp Suica services, including functions such as automatic walk-through ticket gates, cashless payments of over ¥20,000 and person-to-person money transfers. The company also plans to offer a subscription service.
Dubbing the initiative the “Suica Renaissance,” the transport IC company plans to expand Suica beyond just a tool for transportation to becoming one for all payment-related necessities over the next decade.
Within the next 10 years, JR East will develop automated walk-through gate technology so that passengers can enter the train platform without having to tap their Suica card or phone on the ticket gates. For stations in more rural areas where there are no ticket gates, the company plans to use passengers’ location information to track their transport fees.
