Apple will implement in iPhone 7 support for at least one new mobile payment system, this one having the name FeliCa and being used by millions of people in Japan. We are talking about a system that allows mobile payments to be made at POS, but also allows payments for public transport or the storage of travel tickets.
FeliCa was developed by Sony mainly for public transport payments, but the system is also used for mobile payments in Japan. Apart from FeliCa, Apple intends to collaborate with other owners of systems of this kind in order to offer the Japanese the widest possible support for this type of transaction.
Separately from paying for public transport, Apple would also like to allow the transactions of "e-money", a virtual currency used for payments in the country. At the moment there is support for this type of currency at many vending machines that sell products, so the Japanese use the system on a large scale in their country.
In 2015, FeliCa made transactions of 46 billion dollars in Japan, so you can imagine why Apple would be extremely interested in providing support for this system in the iPhone. Apple Pay has not yet been launched in Japan, but with iPhone 7 the Apple company intends to change this situation and offer the mobile payment system, with support for others.
So that the launch of support for FeliCa takes place with iPhone 7, Apple must complete negotiations with local partners, which is not easy to do. Apple tried to do much more in the financial field, but the discussions with various banking institutions forced it to postpone or completely cancel its plans.
If Apple will provide support for this new mobile payment system in Japan, then there is a chance that support will also be provided for others, in other countries on the planet. Of course, everything depends on the success in Japan, but it is clear that Apple wants to make money by taking advantage of other sources of income.
