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I think they are even more useful in Taiwan. Every single transit system across the entire island that I’ve ever encountered accepts EasyCard (悠遊卡). Even ferrie

I think they are even more useful in Taiwan. Every single transit system across the entire island that I’ve ever encountered accepts EasyCard (悠遊卡). Even ferries. So does every convenience store, and even a lot of proper restaurants and stores. They are also fast, like you don’t even have to break your strike while passing the turnstiles to enter the metro.

lhl 1y ago
I think it's about equal for utility - Japanese Suica/Pasmo cards are also usable in every single konbini, at all the stations stores, across most regional transportation and taxis, and at maybe half of Tokyo shops/restaurants (it's a default option in AirPay and other PoS systems). A lot of vending machines accept Suica, and I use it at grocery or drug stores. You can even use it at some other types of shops like Bic Camera, although for high ticket items you're going to hit the Suica balance limits... https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/suicamoney/shop.html https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/suicamoney/shop.html
- bemmu 1y ago
  I seem to have managed to live in the only place in Japan where you can’t use suica/pasmo for transport: Tokushima. Still works in convini though.
  - lmm 1y ago
    Tokushima Bus is apparently introducing IC card support next year.
- decimalenough 1y ago
  Most, but not all. Wikipedia has a hideously convoluted diagram showing the complex web of interoperability or lack thereof: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_Mutual_Usage_Service#/media/File:ICCard_Connection_en.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_Mutual_Usage_Servic...
  - lxgr 1y ago
    The complexity is largely limited to monthly passes at this point, as far as I understand. Per the diagram (and my, very limited, personal experience), stored-value rides are supported across most systems, as there is a shared set of keys and station identifiers.
- walthamstow 1y ago
  The funny thing about Japan is they have this wonderful universal IC card, but not everywhere accepts it, some accept only it, some only accept cash, some only cash or physical credit card, some only QR (PayPay), so you end up needing to carry several methods, and one of them is paper and coins!
  - ksdnjweusdnkl21 1y ago
    It's amazingly fractured actually. In my home country every store pretty much has the same exact model of a card reader that takes all contacless payments and credit cards with chips. In Japan it's a coinflip wether a credit card reader can take contactless credit cards. And if you do it with the chip, it's always a fun process of the clerk not understanding you need to insert a pin or select a currency, so they sometimes abort the process in confusion. Needless to say, I prefer to use cash in Japan.
  - socalgal2 1y ago
    Variety is good! The fact the USA only has Mastercard and Visa and that they've colluded to keep all other forms of payments out is why their fees aren't lower. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-visa-monopolizing-debit-markets https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-s... Japan has competition in payment systems. Paypay, D-Pay, Meri-pay, Line Pay, Rakuten Pay, etc... Each tries to entice both customers and retailers by offering discounts and bonuses. Also I'm happy to pay cash as it's private.
    - starttoaster 1y ago
      USA has Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and AmEx. Each of which try to entice their customers by offering better rewards programs. Though AmEx isn't taken everywhere (notably Costco) and Discover is hit and miss as well.
      - kaladin-jasnah 1y ago
        It's funny, because the Costco credit card used to be AmEx. IIRC Costco Canada only takes Mastercard, which is funny since the US Costco credit card is Visa, so you can't use the US Costco CC to pay in a Canadian Costco.
- danielhep 1y ago
  You can even use them at international chains like Starbucks, IKEA, and McDonalds.
  - notpushkin 1y ago
    Thailand and Malaysia also do this (not sure about IKEA, but definitely McDonalds and konbini, and probably Starbucks too) In Istanbul I think you can use the transport card to pay in some supermarkets, and of course it works on all transportation modes, including ferries. (As an aside, they also have a QR-code based system specifically for restaurants, which I think is used mainly by companies looking to compensate their workers lunches, but you can also use it in Ininal app to get a discount)
anArbitraryOne 1y ago
Technically a gate, not a turnstile (which inherently slows traffic)
sriamanan 1y ago
>the entire island Is it China's influence that Taiwan is not being referred to as a country.
- kccqzy 1y ago
  The territory of Taiwan the country is not just Taiwan the island. There are other islands belonging to Taiwan such as Kinmen. If OP never set foot on these other islands it is simply more accurate to say the island rather than the country. But this is just an HN comment, OP might not have given the island/country word choice a second thought.
yuye 1y ago
>They are also fast, like you don’t even have to break your strike while passing the turnstiles to enter the metro. They are not slow, but it's faster in Japan, still. At least in the Taipei MRT. The Taoyuan Metro is way worse, though. If you keep walking while going through the gate and the card doesn't scan fast enough, it'll error and tell you to step back outside of the gate area (the in-between part) and scan again. It slows traffic down quite a bit.

lhl 1y ago

I think it's about equal for utility - Japanese Suica/Pasmo cards are also usable in every single konbini, at all the stations stores, across most regional transportation and taxis, and at maybe half of Tokyo shops/restaurants (it's a default option in AirPay and other PoS systems). A lot of vending machines accept Suica, and I use it at grocery or drug stores. You can even use it at some other types of shops like Bic Camera, although for high ticket items you're going to hit the Suica balance limits... https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/suicamoney/shop.html https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/suicamoney/shop.html

bemmu 1y ago
I seem to have managed to live in the only place in Japan where you can’t use suica/pasmo for transport: Tokushima. Still works in convini though.
- lmm 1y ago
  Tokushima Bus is apparently introducing IC card support next year.
decimalenough 1y ago
Most, but not all. Wikipedia has a hideously convoluted diagram showing the complex web of interoperability or lack thereof: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_Mutual_Usage_Service#/media/File:ICCard_Connection_en.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_Mutual_Usage_Servic...
- lxgr 1y ago
  The complexity is largely limited to monthly passes at this point, as far as I understand. Per the diagram (and my, very limited, personal experience), stored-value rides are supported across most systems, as there is a shared set of keys and station identifiers.
walthamstow 1y ago
The funny thing about Japan is they have this wonderful universal IC card, but not everywhere accepts it, some accept only it, some only accept cash, some only cash or physical credit card, some only QR (PayPay), so you end up needing to carry several methods, and one of them is paper and coins!
- ksdnjweusdnkl21 1y ago
  It's amazingly fractured actually. In my home country every store pretty much has the same exact model of a card reader that takes all contacless payments and credit cards with chips. In Japan it's a coinflip wether a credit card reader can take contactless credit cards. And if you do it with the chip, it's always a fun process of the clerk not understanding you need to insert a pin or select a currency, so they sometimes abort the process in confusion. Needless to say, I prefer to use cash in Japan.
- socalgal2 1y ago
  Variety is good! The fact the USA only has Mastercard and Visa and that they've colluded to keep all other forms of payments out is why their fees aren't lower. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-visa-monopolizing-debit-markets https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-s... Japan has competition in payment systems. Paypay, D-Pay, Meri-pay, Line Pay, Rakuten Pay, etc... Each tries to entice both customers and retailers by offering discounts and bonuses. Also I'm happy to pay cash as it's private.
  - starttoaster 1y ago
    USA has Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and AmEx. Each of which try to entice their customers by offering better rewards programs. Though AmEx isn't taken everywhere (notably Costco) and Discover is hit and miss as well.
    - kaladin-jasnah 1y ago
      It's funny, because the Costco credit card used to be AmEx. IIRC Costco Canada only takes Mastercard, which is funny since the US Costco credit card is Visa, so you can't use the US Costco CC to pay in a Canadian Costco.
danielhep 1y ago
You can even use them at international chains like Starbucks, IKEA, and McDonalds.
- notpushkin 1y ago
  Thailand and Malaysia also do this (not sure about IKEA, but definitely McDonalds and konbini, and probably Starbucks too) In Istanbul I think you can use the transport card to pay in some supermarkets, and of course it works on all transportation modes, including ferries. (As an aside, they also have a QR-code based system specifically for restaurants, which I think is used mainly by companies looking to compensate their workers lunches, but you can also use it in Ininal app to get a discount)

anArbitraryOne 1y ago

Technically a gate, not a turnstile (which inherently slows traffic)

sriamanan 1y ago

>the entire island Is it China's influence that Taiwan is not being referred to as a country.

kccqzy 1y ago
The territory of Taiwan the country is not just Taiwan the island. There are other islands belonging to Taiwan such as Kinmen. If OP never set foot on these other islands it is simply more accurate to say the island rather than the country. But this is just an HN comment, OP might not have given the island/country word choice a second thought.

yuye 1y ago

>They are also fast, like you don’t even have to break your strike while passing the turnstiles to enter the metro. They are not slow, but it's faster in Japan, still. At least in the Taipei MRT. The Taoyuan Metro is way worse, though. If you keep walking while going through the gate and the card doesn't scan fast enough, it'll error and tell you to step back outside of the gate area (the in-between part) and scan again. It slows traffic down quite a bit.