Partnership between NTT DOCOMO and MasterCard Worldwide

• NTT DOCOMO and MasterCard Worldwide have signed a strategic partnership based on NFC and Osaifu Keitai compatible smartphones.

• Their joint commercial launch of contactless payment services is to take place in 2013, thus opening the mobile carrier’s offers to PayPass locations worldwide. NTT DOCOMO’s customers with NFC-enabled phones will have access to roughly 500,000 PayPass acceptance points in over 40 countries, in addition to 560,000 Osaifu Keitai POS devices in Japan.

• To begin with, this service will rely on two phone models available at DOCOMO, to be added to MasterCard’s already approved tools.     

Source: Press release

• The Japanese carrier is then turning towards international mobile payments. Initially relying on FeliCa chips, for years they have been compelled to focus on their national market. This agreement with MasterCard leads them to more spread Types A and B NFC standards opening them to high potential market.

• This announcement also fits in the agreement reached between Japan’s main mobile operators, as part of the Japan Mobile NFC Consortium, aiming at harmonising mobile payments systems, and favouring contactless adoption as well as the development of a lasting dedicated business model (see January 2012 Insight).

• MasterCard has been especially active this year and has partnered with several mobile carriers (Turkcell, RiM, Deutsche Telekom, etc.) to promote contactless adoption.