TMCnet News
JCB to Launch 'Offica Watch' with Casio; Latest Contactless Solution Trial Underway JCB, a leading international credit card brand, today launched a 2 month site trial of its new wristwatch Offica corporate solution. The 'Offica Watch', in cooperation with Casio, contains employee ID, access control and cashless payment functions. Twenty-five JCB employees will use the Offica Watch instead of the current Offica card to access the JCB tower in central Tokyo, make purchases at company restaurants and stores, and carry out a variety of administrative functions."This watch will improve convenience and user-friendliness for the wearers, as they don't have to take something out of their pocket or purse to open a door or pay for coffee. We think this has particular advantages in environments such as manufacturing plants or amusement parks where people should be hands-free and not have to carry a lot of things around." said Mr. Yuichi Momose, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Strategic Market Development department at JCB. "We'll be launching this solution commercially early next year, after a review of the 2 month live trial." The introduction of a wristwatch-based solution incorporating a suite of contactless chip functions is a first for Japan, and follows the trial of JCB's innovative Mobile Offica. Mobile Offica is a mobile phone based corporate solution through mobile phones in cooperation with NTT DoCoMo at the beginning of this year. Both Mobile Offica and the new Offica Watch utilize Sony's FeliCa* contactless interface chip. The corporate environment, with a limited range of equipment and infrastructure, allows for faster, easier implementation of chip-based information and payment technology in media such as Mobile Offica and Offica Watch. JCB is committed to developing solutions that provide superior functionality via the most suitable media - conventional plastic cards, mobile phones, key chains or PDAs. JCB's Offica solution offers corporations a diverse and flexible menu of functions including access control, network authentication, employee identification and attendance tracking, and cashless purchasing at the office. A major advance over conventional, prepaid applications, Offica's postpay function links to the employee's own JCB brand credit card. *Felica is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation. |