Visitors to Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture will soon be able to make payments using Taipei’s public transport smart card. EasyCard Corporation, which operates the EasyCard payment network, says the new system will go online later this year.
Right now, EasyCards are used across Taiwan to pay for everything from train journeys to groceries. Like smart cards in other countries, EasyCards can be topped up at transit stations and convenience stores. They can hold a maximum of NT$30,000 (US$1,000).
EasyCard Corporation says it is working with a regional bank in Okinawa to integrate payments there with Taiwan’s system. When that’s done, anyone aged 20 and over will be able to use an EasyCard registered to their name to make small payments in the Japanese island prefecture. Costs will be instantly converted from Japanese yen into New Taiwan dollars.
The scheme will benefit Taiwanese tourists eager to visit Okinawa. In 2018, the islands received almost 3 million foreign visitors. Almost a third came from Taiwan.