JP — ITmedia
teppay: Why Only My Number Card for Identity Verification? We Asked JR East
Blockchain2 min read
JR East's new code payment app, teppay, only accepts the My Number Card to confirm a user's identity. ITmedia asked JR East why, and the company said it wants a safe and reliable method.
What happened
JR East started teppay, a code payment service, on October 20, 2026. It works inside the Mobile Suica app. You can use basic payments without proving who you are. To unlock more features, you must confirm your identity, and the only document accepted is the My Number Card. Driver's licenses, passports, and health insurance cards cannot be used.
Key facts
- Starts on October 20, 2026, inside the Mobile Suica app
- Balance payments can go up to 300,000 yen after identity checks
- Identity checks also unlock bank top-ups, the teppay JCB Prepaid card, and government benefit payments
- Only the My Number Card is accepted for identity checks
What is the My Number Card method?
JR East uses a public personal authentication system. This reads a digital signing certificate stored on the chip in the My Number Card to check who the person is. Many services still ask users to send photos of documents, which is less secure. Recently, leaks of photos of driver's licenses and other ID documents caused problems. The Financial Services Agency asked banks to move to chip-reading methods quickly. From April 2027, online identity checks will mostly have to use chip-based methods such as the My Number Card.
Why it matters
The choice shows how Japan is moving toward safer online identity checks. JR East says the single method lowers the risk of someone pretending to be another person and makes the steps the same for everyone. However, people without a My Number Card, or without a phone that supports NFC (a short-range chip reading technology), cannot use these features. JR East says it will think about adding other documents if many users ask, based on feedback, usage, laws, and technology.
What to watch
- Whether JR East adds driver's licenses or residence cards as ID options
- How the rules change when the revised money-laundering prevention law takes effect in April 2027
- Whether more users without a My Number Card or NFC phone are blocked from features
Glossary
- teppay
- A code payment app from JR East that works inside the Mobile Suica app.
- My Number Card
- A Japanese government ID card with a chip that can prove who you are online.
- NFC
- A short-range wireless technology that lets a phone read information from a nearby chip or card.
- Mobile Suica
- JR East's phone-based transit card app that also supports payments.
- Financial Services Agency
- The Japanese government agency that oversees banks, insurance, and other financial companies.