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
On April 18, 2006, Intel announced a five billion yen (approx. 45 million USD, or 35 million euros as of May 20, 2006) investment in bitWallet, aimed at further developing the technology for PC-based electronic money settlements.
On June 1, 2012, Rakuten acquired Edy, changing the official name to RakutenEdy and the parent company from bitWallet to RakutenEdy Inc. The three-oval blue-tone logo was changed to the Rakuten logo and the font of the word 'Edy' was altered.
Mobile phones
Edy can be used on Osaifu-Keitai featured cellphones. Makers of these phones include major cell phone carriers such as docomo, au and SoftBank. The phones can be used physically like an Edy card, and online Edy features can be accessed from the phones as well, such as the ability to charge an Edy account.
External links
- Edy official homepage (Japanese)