No tickets or IC cards required! ? “Touch payment” has been introduced at the ticket gates of four Kansai private railway companies.

(Reporter Report) “Credit card with touch payment. By touching the dedicated server, you can board the train smoothly.”

What started on October 29th is a service that allows you to ride using the touch payment function of your credit card, and has been introduced by four Kansai private railway companies: Osaka Metro, Kintetsu, Hankyu, and Hanshin.

The cards eligible are six brands, including VISA and JCB, and customers can now pass through the ticket gate by simply holding a credit card with a touch payment function or a smartphone equipped with the card over a dedicated server at the ticket gate. .

Ahead of next year’s Osaka/Kansai Expo, the aim is to increase usage, mainly among foreign tourists who are unaccustomed to buying tickets, by easing congestion around ticket vending machines and ticket gates and responding to station staff. The company is also hoping to have an effect on reducing business operations.

(Traveler from the UK) “I think it’s very good. It takes time to find the ticket vending machine, and I have to find the English conversion button, so it takes time.”
(Tourist from Spain) “I also had a hard time buying an IC card. I think it would be more convenient for travelers if they could use a card.”

In the Kansai region, it has been introduced in advance at some stations such as Nankai, but from October 29th it will be available at almost all stations in the Kansai region, except for some private railway companies.