Nanaco

nanaco is a prepaid and rechargeable contactless electronic money card used in 7 Eleven convenience stores in Japan.

The card is the only contactless smart card which 7-Eleven accepts. Supplied by IY Card Service Co., a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings Co., nanaco is available as nanaco card (plastic card) and nanaco mobile (Osaifu-Keitai application for mobile phones with embedded contactless chip).The Nanaco format also features a postpay function (on the QUICPay scheme), which will be made available for users subscribing to a IY Credit Card during the summer of 2007. Purchases with nanaco earn points, which can later be used to make more purchases. The cards uses Sony's FeliCa technology, which is also used in a wide variety of contactless smart cards including Suica, Edy, and PASMO. Services began on April 23 2007 and the number of members is more than 3.8 million as of end-June 2007.cite web|url = http://www.7andi.com/news/pdf/2007/0702_01.pdf|title = Press release on July 3, 2007|accessdate = 2007-07-03|date = 2007-07-03|format = PDF|publisher = IY CARD SERVICE Co.,Ltd.|language = Japanese]

"Nana" means "seven" in Japanese, and the giraffe's head and neck is in the shape of the number "7," in reference to "7-Eleven" and "Seven & i Holdings."

The number of Nanoco cards stood at 5.9 million at the end of May 2008. [http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/seven-i-to-promote-use-of-nanaco-e-money-as-gifts]

History of Nanaco

Nanaco was launched in April 2007 to approximately 1,500 Seven Eleven Japan (SEJ) stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area. In May 2007, the service was fully extended to all SEJ stores. By February 2008, Nanco was accepted at all Denny's restaurants in Japan and by May 2008, nanaco cards were all welcomed by all Ito-Yokado stores in Japan.

Nanaco can be used at more than 7,000 stores outside the company's group, especially those that are JCM affiliated shops. [http://www.7andi.com/ir/pdf/annual/2008_05.pdf]

The “nanaco card” issued by Seven-Eleven Japan had become the most frequently used e-wallet within three months after it was introduced in April 2007. [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2008/08/21/2003420933/]

References

External links

* [http://www.nanaco-net.jp/ nanaco Official Homepage]