日本尚未迎来现金之死

    日本这个国家的国民深深热爱现金，甚至有些睥睨信用卡，如何去说服他们去刷手机来支付商品和服务费用呢？不幸的是，对于日本低迷的经济和那些希望我们所有人都用上移动电子钱包的信用卡公司而言，这个问题依旧没有明确的答案。

    最近针对日本人是否喜欢用电子钱包技术的一项调查透露了一些端倪。一位23岁的男子在受访时称：“我个人喜欢用现金。”这是一个典型的样本回答。而这种技术已经存在于日本6,500万只手机中了。另一位40来岁的女士称：“我觉得我无法去信任这种技术的安全性。”对于eBay公司和苹果公司（Apple）而言，这不是什么令人鼓舞的消息。eBay公司在美国国内的移动支付业务是它的一大支柱，而有传言称，苹果公司将在下一代iPhone智能手机中搭载电子钱包芯片。

    为了提振低迷的经济，日本政府大约在8年前就提出了通过手机进行无线支付的设想（依据的理论是：无现金社会将有助于遏制日本挥之不去的通货紧缩问题）。日本的数字钱包可在商店或通过与信用卡公司的安排进行充值。当消费者在零售商的终端旁触碰或刷电子钱包时，采用短距离无线通信的近场通信（NFC）等技术就会进行无线金融交易。它支持了近距离设备之间的数据交换。驻东京的移动技术顾问史蒂夫•永田说：“日本在手机钱包技术领域的部署肯定遥遥领先于世界其他地区。”

    2004年，NTT DoCoMo公司为它的手机产品推出了名为手机钱包（Osaifu-Keitai）的电子钱包服务。这项服务基于近距离无线通信（NFC）标准之一——FeliCa通信协议。由于目前日本所有的移动电话运营商都支持手机钱包服务，FeliCa在当地已成为事实上的标准。到目前为止，日本全国已经拥有六大相互竞争的非现金支付系统，并已在手机中大量嵌入。手机钱包包括电子货币、身份卡、会员卡，甚至各种缴费功能。

    电子钱包的吸引力显而易见。例如，在Docomo版的电子钱包中充入日元后，我发现能够便捷地用它来搭乘公共交通，支付餐费，甚至在日本无处不在的自动售货机上买些罐头茶。其他近场通讯技术应用程序还能让用户的手机变成登机牌或演唱会门票。那么，对便利性和新事物有点神经质般痴迷的日本人怎么会冷落如此新颖和极佳的工具呢？

    How do you persuade a nation that is deeply in love with cash -- and even looks askance at credit cards -- to pay for goods and services with the swipe of a phone? Unfortunately for Japan's dawdling economy and the credit card firms who hope to thrust such mobile e-wallets on all of us the answer to that question remains decidedly unclear.

    A recent survey tells the tale: "I'm a cash man myself," was a typical sample answer from a 23-year-old man in a poll that asked Japanese if they'd like to use the e-wallet technology that already exists in 65 million phones across the country. "I don't feel I can trust the security aspect," was another from a woman in her forties. Hardly encouraging for companies such as eBay (EBAY), boosted by mobile payments at home, and Apple (AAPL) which is rumored to be adding an e-wallet chip to its next iPhone.

    Conceived by a government determined to bolster a drooping economy (a cashless society would help snuff out Japan's dogged deflation is the theory) paying for stuff wirelessly through mobile phones has been around in Japan for eight years now. Japanese digital wallets can be loaded with cash at stores or through an arrangement with a credit card company. Technologies, such as near field communication (NFC) that employs short-range wireless communications, carry out financial transactions wirelessly when they touch or are swiped near a retailer's terminal. This allows data exchange between devices in close proximity. "Japan is certainly way ahead of the rest of the world with its 'Osaifu-Keitai' (literally 'wallet phone') implementation," says Tokyo-based mobile technology consultant Steve Nagata.

    NTT Docomo (DCM) launched an electronic wallet service named Osaifu-Keitai for its mobile phones in 2004 based on the "FeliCa communications protocol," one of the NFC standards. Now that Osaifu services are supported by all Japan's mobile phone carriers FeliCa has become a de facto standard there. So far, the country has six main competing cashless payment systems, many of them embedded into mobile phones. Osaifu services include electronic money, identity card, loyalty card, and even fare collection.

    The appeal of an e-wallet is obvious. For example, after loading Docomo's version with yen, I found it simple to access public transportation, pay for meals, and even persuade one of Japan's omnipresent vending machines to cough up some tinned tea. Other NFC apps allow you to turn your phone into a boarding pass or concert ticket. So how come Japan, with its slightly unhinged obsession for total convenience and the new, has managed to snub such novel and terrific expedience?