 December 25th, 2000
ELEVEN COMPANIES COLLABORATE TO PROMOTE
THE“Edy”PREPAID ELECTRONIC MONEY SERVICE FOR THE IT ERA - Convenient and Secure Payment System for both the Real and the Cyber World- (Tokyo, Japan) The above eleven companies today announced a joint venture to start a Prepaid Electronic Money Service called “Edy” for the Japanese domestic market. The joint venture company will be established in January 2001, and full-scale service is due to start in October 2001. The Edy service will realize quick and easy means to make payments for goods and services through the use of an Edy card (a non-contact IC card developed by Sony under the name “FeliCa”). Payments can be made quickly and safely by simply placing the Edy card near terminals installed at retail outlets and personal computers. The use of an IC card also offers high level of security, as an IC card is extremely difficult to duplicate or falsify. Also, the Edy card can be used repeatedly by depositing money through terminals at convenience stores or through personal computers. Additionally, issuers of the Edy card can take advantage of the large memory capacity to add services other than the Edy service to offer multiple services for the users through a single card. In the future, the new company will consider the possibility to add money-depositing capability through mobile terminals as well. [Business description of the New Company] The new company possesses the right to sign a merchant contract (acquirer's right) to solicit real outlets (outlets and vending machines of convenience stores, fast-food restaurants, etc.) and cyber outlets (Internet e-commerce sites). The new company will grant the right to issue Edy cards to the eleven contributing companies, and will work to solicit other companies to issue the Edy card as well. Additionally, the new company will establish an infrastructure base of money depositing terminals and promote the widespread use of personal terminals with card reader/writer capabilities. Prior to the beginning of full-scale service, an experimental service will be offered where users can shop and deposit money at participating am/pm convenience stores. After a user receives an Edy card from Sakura Bank, money deposits can be made at either am/pm convenience stores or at Sakura Bank's ATM machines, at which time the Edy card can be used to make payments at the participating am/pm stores. An experimental service over the Internet is under consideration. The new company will now work to establish a user base of 30 million cards, 25,000 real outlets, 30,000 cyber outlets, 1 million vending machines and 15 million personal terminals within the next five years. Roles of the Companies: ●Sony Group (Sony, Sony Finance) -Provide technologies for the Edy card and related systems -Develop, manufacture and market terminals with reader/writer capabilities. ●NTT DoCoMo -Promote the use of Edy card over the mobile environment. ●Sakura Bank (Sakura/Sumitomo Bank affiliates: Sakura Information Systems, Japan Research Institute) -Promote the use of Edy card over ATM machines and multimedia kiosks. -Promote the use of Edy card at convenience stores. -Promote other services in connection with the Edy. ●Toyota -Promote the use of Edy card to make payments for various automobile uses. ●Denso -Develop, manufacture and market reader/writers. ●KDDI -Promote the use of Edy card in a network/mobile environment. ●Sanwa Bank -Promote the use of Edy card over ATM machines and multimedia kiosks. -Promote the use of Edy card at convenience stores. ●Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi -Promote the use of Edy card over ATM machines and multimedia kiosks. -Promote the use of Edy card at convenience stores.
Outline of the New Company: 1) Name: (to be decided) 2) Location: Ohsaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
5) Capital: 5 billion yen
Copyright(C)2000 THE SAKURA BANK, LIMITED |
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