Cherryflava

More finger licking RFID goodness from Japan

Posted on 23. May, 2008 by Jonathan Cherry in Branding

Very soon, ordering and paying for a heavily branded slice of dead cow will be that much easier thanks to the clever folks in Japan and the marvel of those pesky RFID things we were going on about yesterday..

After nearly a year in development, McDonalds Japan has finally released it’s innovative new Kazasu Coupon (Contactless Coupon) loyalty and payment program.

Kazasu Coupon uses Felica RFID technology installed in most modern
Japanese phones to create the first program of this type, allowing
customers to choose their meals, redeem coupons, and pay for purchases
all with their mobile phones.

To join, customers must download an application to their phones and
register via mobile web, allowing them to choose the coupons they like.
When making their purchase at McDonalds, the coupon is redeemed by
placing the phone near the RFID reader at the register, instantly
adding the item to the order.

Considering that South Africa is only just behind Japan in it’s love of mobile phones, it would make sense therefore that credit card-type payments could very soon be migrating to cellphones in this way.

And with more people having access to phones rather than a fixed bank account – it would make a whole herd of buying sense as well. Just don’t let Tito hear about this – he’ll ban such nonsense before it takes hold.

Read more: McDonalds testing IC card “Kazasu Coupon” – CScout Japan