Once a rarity, cashless payments are increasingly common in Japan. But what happens when a cashless vendor’s system goes down? Here’s how a recent issue with one of Japan’s notable transportation cards left a few cashless customers stuck inside the train station.
The rise of cashless – and the issues it creates
It took a while for Japan to climb on the cashless bandwagon. In 2013, only 15.3% of all financial transactions in Japan were cashless. By 2023, that number had risen to 39.3%.
The big driver has been so-called “barcode” or “QR code” apps, notably the popular app PayPay, which enables customers to scan a barcode or QR code at point-of-purchase. Merchants especially like the barcode apps because they can support them easily with their existing terminals.
Besides the barcode apps, the IC card apps supported by transportation companies for boarding trains and buses are also popular forms of cashless payment. You can easily add an IC card, such as Suica or PASMO, to any iPhone or Android phone.
No balance, no cash, no station exit!
The barcode and IC apps work a little differently. The barcode apps carry a balance in an account stored on the Internet; they require an active Internet connection when you make a purchase. By contrast, the IC cards on your phone carry a balance locally on the device and only need an active Internet connection when you top up your balance.
That means that, when things go wrong with these services, they go wrong in different and unique ways. For example, this week, PayPay suffered a system outage that left people unable to pay for their purchases. Some social media users have shared horror stories of having the cops called on them because they couldn’t pay for a purchase at a restaurant – and didn’t have any cash on them.
By contrast, IC card users face a different – and maybe scarier – issue: not being able to leave the subway station.
On May 10th this year, Japan Railways’ Suica experienced an IT issue that prevented users from charging their cards using either Mobile Suica or the online EkiNet Web site. That left a few people inside of their destination stations without a sufficient balance to exit the gates.
If you have cash, you can remedy this situation by talking to a station gate attendant. The problem is that some people were 100% cashless. They didn’t even have the few hundreds yen (a couple of US dollars) required to pay for this privilege.
People who used their Suicas at department stores faced even more frustration. In a few cases, a purchase registered on the user’s card but didn’t transmit to the store’s point-of-sale machine. That left consumers haggling with store staff and management over how to proceed with the consumer getting double-charged.
Lesson: Always have some cash in Japan
In this case, it seems the Suica outage may have resulted from a cyberattack. At any rate, Japanese IT experts say such failures are rare and time-limited. They’re not something you should spend too much time fretting over.
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However, being caught without a valid method of payment – especially at places like restaurants – can make for an awkward experience. That’s doubly true if you don’t speak Japanese and have a hard time communicating with staff.
The best antidote? Always carry cash. If you’re a foreigner traveling to Japan, you can get out cash at any 7-11 ATM or any other ATM designated for international transactions. It’s a good idea to keep a few ten thousand yen bills (20-30,000 yen, or USD $129 to $194) at all times for situations like this.
If you’re in the subway and need to exit, you can use a Fair Adjustment machine (精算機; seisanki) to get a ticket for the balance of your trip. You can also talk to a station employee who can assist you.
But if you do find yourself cashless and stuck in a subway station? Talk to a station employee. In all likelihood, they’ll take pity on you and let you out.
Discover the “unseen” side of Japan
Japan is on everyone’s travel bucket list. Sadly, many end up going to the same places as everyone else. That can turn what could have been a fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience into an exhausting battle with crowds.
We started Unseen Japan Tours for the same reason we started Unseen Japan: To give people a unique glimpse into Japan they can’t get anywhere else. Let us create a custom itinerary of hard-to-find spots centered on your interests. We can also serve as your guides and interpreters, taking you to places that non-Japanese-speaking tourists usually can’t access.
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Sources
現金を持ち歩かない人、改札出られず閉じ込められる. Goo
PayPayで障害発生、「決済できない」報告相次ぐ ランチの時間帯を直撃【復旧済み】. ITMedia
