FeliCa is a contactless

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...

smart card A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...

system from

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, primarily used in

electronic money Digital currency (digital money, electronic money or electronic currency) is any currency, money, or money-like asset that is primarily managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems, especially over the internet. Types of digital cu ...

cards. The name stands for ''Felicity Card''. First utilized in the Octopus card system in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, the technology is used in a variety of cards also in countries such as

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Technology

FeliCa's

encryption In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can d ...

key is dynamically generated each time mutual

authentication Authentication (from ''authentikos'', "real, genuine", from αὐθέντης ''authentes'', "author") is the act of proving an assertion, such as the identity of a computer system user. In contrast with identification, the act of indicatin ...

is performed, preventing fraud such as impersonation. FeliCa is externally powered, i.e. it does not need a battery to operate. The card uses power supplied from the special FeliCa card reader when the card comes in range. When the data transfer is complete, the reader will stop the supply of power. FeliCa was proposed for ISO/IEC 14443 Type C but was rejected. However, ISO/IEC 18092 ( Near Field Communication) uses some similar modulation methods. It uses

Manchester coding In telecommunication and data storage, Manchester code (also known as phase encoding, or PE) is a line code in which the encoding of each data bit is either low then high, or high then low, for equal time. It is a self-clocking signal with no DC ...

at 212 kbit/s in the 13.56 MHz range. A proximity of 10 centimeters or less is required for communication. FeliCa complies with JIS: X6319-4: Specification of implementation for integrated circuit(s) cards - Part 4: High speed proximity cards. The standard is regulated b
JICSAP
(Japan IC Card System Application Council). Th
UK IT security evaluation and certification scheme
provides more detail as to the internal architecture of the FeliCa card (RC-S860 ). FeliCa IC card (hardware) and its operating system has obtained ISO15408 Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (“EAL4”), a standard which indicates the security level of information technology and consumer products. FeliCa is also included as a condition of the NFC Forum Specification Compliance. A new version of FeliCa IC chip was announced in June 2011 and had enhanced security adopting the

Advanced Encryption Standard The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known by its original name Rijndael (), is a specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2001. AES is a variant ...

(AES) encryption. Sony claimed the next generation chip would have a higher performance, reliability and lower power consumption. The newest generation of the technology was announced by Sony in 2020, which introduced higher levels of encryption and additional security options to meet market needs.

Reliability

FeliCa supports simultaneous access of up to 8 blocks (1 block is 16

octet Octet may refer to: Music * Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble ** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments *** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 com ...

s). If an IC card is moved outside of the power-supplied area during the session, the FeliCa card automatically discards incomplete data to restore the previous state.

Mobile FeliCa

Mobile FeliCa is a modification of FeliCa for use in mobile phones by FeliCa Networks

a subsidiary company of both NTT DoCoMo and

. DoCoMo has developed a wallet phone concept based on Mobile FeliCa and has developed a wide network of partnerships and business models. au and SoftBank (former

Vodafone Japan is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...

) have also licensed mobile FeliCa from FeliCa Networks. The system (literal translation: "wallet-phone") was developed by NTT DoCoMo, and introduced in July 2004 and later licensed to Vodafone and au, which introduced the product in their own mobile phone ranges under the same name. Using Osaifu-Keitai, multiple FeliCa systems (such as Suica and Edy) can be accessed from a single mobile phone. On January 28, 2006, au introduced Mobile Suica which is used primarily on the railway networks owned by

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

. On September 7, 2016, Apple announced

Apple Pay Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on these Apple devices: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. It digitizes and can replace a cred ...

now features FeliCa technology. Users who purchased iPhone 7 or

Apple Watch Series 2 Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...

in Japan can now add Suica cards into their Apple Pay wallets and tap their devices just like regular Suica cards. Users can either transfer the balance from a physical Suica card to the Apple Pay wallet, or create a virtual Suica card in the wallet from the

application. On September 12, 2017, Apple announced new iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone XR and

Apple Watch Series 3 Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...

models featuring "Global FeliCa", i.e. NFC-F and licensed FeliCa middleware incorporated in all devices sold worldwide, not just ones sold in Japan. On October 9, 2018, Google announced that its latest

Pixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the ...

device, the Pixel 3, would support FeliCa in models purchased in Japan. This feature enables support for WAON, SuiCa, and various other FeliCa-based services through Google Pay and the Osaifu-Keitai system. Successor models including the 3a and 4 have the same support of Mobile Felica in Japan-sold models.

Consumer reader/writer devices

Sony has built a FeliCa reader/writer known as "FeliCa Port" into their VAIO PC line. Using the device, FeliCa cards can be used over the Internet for shopping and charging FeliCa cards. An external USB FeliCa PC reader/writer has been released as well, called PaSoRi. It is USB-powered and allows one to perform online transactions and top up EZ-link cards in Singapore with

credit cards A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the ...

debit cards A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The term '' plastic card'' includes the above and as an identity document. These are similar to a credit card, but u ...

anywhere, as long as there is direct access to the Internet. The Sony PaSoRi Reader is not compatible with the new ez-link cards.

Card usage

* United States University Campuses ''(in collaboration with Blackboard Inc.)'' * Octopus cards,

* Shenzhen TransCard,

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

(defunct; however, Hu Tong Xing uses FeliCa)
Chang'An Card

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...

* Pay Ease, Chong Qing,

* Unified Automatic Fare Collection Scheme completed by Q4 2009,

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

* EZ-link,

(until 2009) *

Airport Rail Link An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city by mainline or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover, or light rail. Direct links operate straight to the airport terminal, while ...

(Bangkok),

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

* SPASS card,

Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) is a state-owned transport corporation of Bangladesh. It was established under the Government Ordinance No.7 of 1961 dated 4 February 1961. Following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, it assumed i ...

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

br>
*

: ** Multi-Trip Card (KMT), KRL Commuterline, KRL Commuterline Greater Jakarta and Surakarta-Yogyakarta ** Dompetku D-Tap, Indosat Ooredoo ** Jelajah (e-Ticket),

Jakarta MRT The Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit ( id, Moda Raya Terpadu ''Jakarta'') or Jakarta MRT (, stylized as ''mrt jakarta'') is a rapid transit system in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. The system is operated by PT Mass Rapid Transit Jakarta (Per ...

Jak Lingko Jak Lingko (formerly OK OTrip) is a public transport integration program designed to integrate payment and physical connection between transport modes in Jakarta. The integration includes TransJakarta, KRL Commuterline, MRT, LRT, Railink and l ...

, integrated card for

Transjakarta TransJakarta (stylised as transjakarta, often erroneously called Busway) is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Jakarta, Indonesia. The first BRT system in Southeast Asia, it commenced operations on 15 January 2004 to provide a fast public trans ...

, Jakarta MRT, KRL Commuterline Jakarta, Jakarta LRT, and Soekarno–Hatta Airport Rail Link *

: The system is ''de facto'' standard in Japan. **

Electronic money Digital currency (digital money, electronic money or electronic currency) is any currency, money, or money-like asset that is primarily managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems, especially over the internet. Types of digital cu ...

mobile payment A mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device, as the cardinal class of ...

: ***

Edy Edy, provided by Rakuten, Inc. in Japan is a prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card. While the name derives from euro, dollar, and yen, it works with yen only. History Edy was launched on January 18, 2001 by BitWallet, with fincaning ...

, Rakuten Edy *** iD, NTT Docomo (also deployed to a limited degree in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

and

) *** nanaco, Seven & I Holdings Co. *** Osaifu Keitai *** QUICPay, Japan Credit Bureau *** WAON, AEON Group **

Public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

payment: (Some can be used as electronic money as well.) *** Major cards: **** Hayakaken, Fukuoka City Subway **** ICOCA,

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and i ...

****

Kitaca is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Sapporo, Japan. Hokkaidō Railway Company (JR Hokkaidō) introduced the system from October 25 2008. Its name means "the card of ", while 北 is also the first cha ...

, JR Hokkaidō ****

Manaca Manaca, written in lower-case letters, is a rechargeable contactless smart card used in Nagoya, Japan and the surrounding area since February 11, 2011, when it replaced the Tranpass magnetic fare card system. As of March 23, 2013, it became ...

, Meitetsu, public transportation in

Tōkai region The is a subregion of the Chūbu region and Kansai region in Japan that runs along the Pacific Ocean. The name comes from the Tōkaidō, one of the Edo Five Routes. Because Tōkai is a sub-region and is not officially classified, there i ...

(includes Nagoya) **** nimoca, railways and buses in

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

**** PASMO, railways and buses in

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Sl ...

(includes Tokyo) **** PiTaPa, railways and buses in

Kansai region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

**** SUGOCA,

JR Kyūshū The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait b ...

**** Suica,

**** TOICA,

JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical r ...

*** ''See the table below for other cards.''

Integrated services in Japan

As FeliCa is the ''de facto'' smart card ticketing system standard in Japan, many of these cards have integrated services. A particular region/operator may accept multiple cards. The table below shows the integrated services FeliCa cards have for each Japanese region. :A: The area accepts all functions of the card, including electronic money function. (There may be subtle differences between each area.) :B: The area accepts basic functions of the card, but not some functions such as electronic money or auto recharging. :''A'': The area will introduce the new card in the future. :''F'': The area will accept the card in future. :A few cards can be used as electronic money in some unmarked areas. :¹: In many cases, there are multiple operators accepting the same card in the same area. See each card article for the full listing.

Notes

External links

Official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felica Sony products Contactless smart cards NTT Docomo Japanese inventions