Android Pay made its first Asian appearance in Singapore back in late-June. A couple months later, in August, rumors began circulating that Google was in negotiations with numerous financial companies to prepare for a launch in Japan. Names of the likely partners included: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, East Japan Railway Company, Rakuten, NTT Docomo, and JCB, to name a few. Since then, details have been sparse; but with evidence discovered in the latest update to Android Pay, it's now clear that a deal has been struck with Rakuten.

Teardown

Disclaimer: Teardowns are based on evidence found inside of apks (Android's application package) and are necessarily speculative and usually based on incomplete information. It's possible that the guesses made here are totally and completely wrong. Even when predictions are correct, there is always a chance that plans could change or may be canceled entirely. Much like rumors, nothing is certain until it's officially announced and released.

The features discussed below are probably not live yet, or may only be live for a small percentage of users. Unless stated otherwise, don't expect to see these features if you install the apk.

Rakuten Edy on Android Pay

For those unfamiliar with Edy, it's a prepaid rechargeable payment system provided by Rakuten. Transactions can be made with either a special contactless card or using a phone with support for Osaifu-Keitai (literally translates to "Wallet Mobile"). Both methods communicate using Sony's FeliCa smart card system, which works over NFC. It's not entirely clear if most Android devices can work with Edy over existing NFC capabilities or if they have to specifically include special hardware.

With that basic explanation out of the way, let's jump right into the functional aspects as they appear right now. Most of this is going to look pretty similar to Android Pay, but there are a few things to be aware of. These are the summarized points regarding Edy cards specifically:

  • Existing cards can be added to and removed from Android Pay.
  • New cards can be created or deleted using Android Pay.
  • Only one (active) card may be attached to a device at a time.
  • There is a limit to the number of cards that can be added per day.
  • There is a Rakuten Edy app that works with Android Pay. It's not clear if the app is required.
  • Payment process: Tell the cashier you're paying with Rakuten Edy, then hold your phone to the terminal

Strings: Edy card management

Like most payment providers, Rakuten engages in the time honored tradition of sign-up bonuses and promotions for using their service. Android Pay will support both. If you've ever used Rakuten's online store (formerly Buy.com), you've surely heard of Rakuten Super Points – these are the rewards for regular spending on the card at a rate of 1 point per 200 yen. There are strings to describe gifts and sign-up bonuses, but the specific terms will obviously change with different promotional periods, therefore they will be fed from a server and aren't detailed here.

One notable point is that if an account has a maximum balance associated with it and a gift would add enough money to exceed that amount, it will not be added until enough money has been spent to open up more space.

Strings: Edy gifts and promotions

It's worth a quick disclaimer to point out that this evidence just shows Rakuten Edy is going to be supported, but it doesn't mean another company won't launch Android Pay support first or that any other company doesn't (or won't) have a deal with Google. For now, this is just the proof that Rakuten is on board. And that leads us to the next section...

Other e-money providers

Rakuten Edy is just one of many providers that handles e-money in Japan. Some other popular options include Suica, Pasmo, Manaca, and Icoca, to name a few. Each is generally available in different regions or from services, but they all operate on the same system. Google is likely preparing to support many of these as generic text has also been added that doesn't have to relate to just Edy. Again, the functions can be easily summarized, but it's worth noting that some of them may not be available with all cards.

  • The cards are rechargeable and money can be added through Android Pay.
  • You can see your card balance in Android Pay.
  • Your mobile wallet can be locked and transactions (both recharging and paying) can't be made until it's unlocked.
  • Gift cards, loyalty programs, and special offers can be stored in the app. This likely includes things associated specifically with each e-money card (e.g. discounts that are only given to a certain card).
  • Before a card can be deleted, any remaining balance must be spent or transferred out.

Strings: Generic card management strings

There are a couple of under-the-hood changes that might be interesting to some readers. If you were paying attention back in the early days of Google Wallet – before it was rebranded to Android Pay and a new Google Wallet app was created for interpersonal transactions – you might remember that it relied on a feature called Secure Element (SE). This was used to retain a small amount of critical data Google Wallet could use for storing critical account information. Many OEMs chose not to include a Secure Element in their phones, which left Google Wallet mostly unsupported. Google switched to a new method called Host Card Emulation (HCE). Naturally, Google chose to abandon Secure Element rather than try to support both methods.

And that was then... Since phones equipped with Sony's FaliCa technology use a Secure Element to protect their account data, Android Pay will have to return to supporting it, as well. As a result, a former requirement for HCE support has been dropped from the Android Pay app:

<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.nfc.hce" android:required="false" />

And there are now new activities and services dedicated to accessing the Secure Element (referred to as "secard").

Secure Element activities and services

What's New(-ish)

Finally, I wanted to quickly point out a change from the v1.10 update that we skipped because it wasn't really worth a post by itself. There's one lone modification to the Settings screen: A new "promotional notifications" toggle has been added. The purpose of this setting is pretty obvious. It's on by default, so if you're particularly bothered by this sort of thing, go turn it off.

Download

The APK is signed by Google and upgrades your existing app. The cryptographic signature guarantees that the file is safe to install and was not tampered with in any way. Rather than wait for Google to push this download to your devices, which can take days, download and install it just like any other APK.

Version: 1.12.141346482

Google Wallet Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free
4.3
Download