PASMO Home Security and Tracking from Tokyu

Written by: Michael Keferl on May 12, 2008 at 7:54 pm | In 01 Technology & Gadget Trends | 3 Comments

Japan’s Tokyu Security is slowly unveiling a series of home, school, work, and child safety services all integrated into the ubiquitous PASMO card, which is now carried by millions of Tokyoites every day.

PASMO, which was originally released as a contactless RFID payment card for trains in Tokyo, has been slowly integrating other services and becoming much more than just a train pass. Credit cards, retail point programs, coin locker keys, and cashless payment are all part of the system, effectively reducing the number of things we have to carry around every day.

Now we can add the keys to our homes as well. PASMO is being introduced at apartment buildings, making it possible for residents to enter the premises and their own apartments with their personal PASMO cards. The Denen Hills complex is one such example.

In addition, PASMO is also offering child tracking services so parents can keep instant tabs on their children. When the child uses PASMO to check-in at school, enter/leave a train station, or arrive back at home, the parent is notified via mobile or PC. Of course, this doesn’t involve GPS tracking as with kid-friendly mobile phone, but can go a long way in providing a sense of relief to busy parents.

Such systems are also being deployed at companies to give building access, but can also be useful for paying for cafeteria food and even transport fees to work (if the employee is lucky enough). However, the ease of PASMO gives way to privacy issues as well, and a company card would effectively give them the ability to track your every movement. Late to work? A quick check can show whether your “late train” is actually just a “late you”.

As our wallets get lighter, so does our privacy. The anonymity of cash is slowly disappearing anyway, whether we use RFID cards or not. One of our sources at Toppan, a printing company and innovator in RFID, told us that one of their ultra-micro chips is being considered for integration into paper currency in the name of “preventing counterfeiting”.

This technology is amazing, no doubt about it, and we would never advocate limits on these innovations, but it’s surely important to keep in mind where this can go in the very near future should governments get even more involved than they already are.

Tags: PASMO, RFID, Safety, Security, Tokyu

PASMO RFID Points and Coupons

Written by: Michael Keferl on April 19, 2008 at 11:35 pm | In 01 Technology & Gadget Trends, 02 Marketing & Ad Trends | 1 Comment

Since the end of 2007, Tokyu Corporation affiliated shops have been using the PASMO RFID payment card as a substitute for the ubiquitous point card programs. Because just about every shop and restaurant has such a program, Japanese consumers are left with an array of point cards in their wallets that never seem to get filled completely.

PASMO allows Tokyu shops to put it all onto one card, allowing members to get rid of their previous magnetic-strip card from Tokyu and integrate it with a card that is becoming more purposeful every day. Keio has a similar integration program as well.

Tokyu’s shop RanKing RanQueen, well-known to Shibuya Station commuters, even has some nice digital signage out front that lets users receive coupons simply by placing their Pasmo cards to the transmitter.

However, we wonder if centralizing points from different sources onto one card is actually a good thing for either businesses or consumers. As it is now, people are carrying point cards and coupons that also serve as reminders to go to the shops in the first place. Even with special branding, such as listing affiliated shops on the card, the effect of contactless RFID means that it’s often unnecessary to even remove the card from a wallet or case to begin with.

PASMO official page here

Tags: Coupons, PASMO, Point Cards, Retail, RFID