KDDI: To Pre-Install JCB Credit Card Software In Phones

TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- KDDI Corp. said Wednesday it plans to pre-install JCB's payment settlement software in its mobile phones, making it easier for customers to use credit card services with their phones.

Japan's No. 2 mobile phone carrier by subscribers after NTT DoCoMo will adopt the JCB software, which has been promoted by an industry association, said a KDDI spokesman, adding that the move didn't involve any formal agreement or tie-up with JCB.

KDDI's phones are already capable of using credit card software, but customers have to download and install it on their own, a cumbersome process that makes rival offerings appear more attractive.

"There's no mistake that it will be much easier for our customers to use credit card functions with their 'au"' brand mobile phones, the KDDI spokesman said.

He declined to comment further, saying the company would brief in more detail on its plans Monday.

By adding pre-loaded credit card functionality to its phones, KDDI is turning up the heat on its larger rival NTT DoCoMo, which offers a mobile credit card service jointly with Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., in which it took a stake.

The move highlights more maneuvering in Japan's mobile phone industry ahead of a regulatory change in October that will enable consumers to keep their phone numbers when they switch carriers, racketing up competition even further.

-By Arran Scott, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2929; arran.scott@dowjones.com
-Edited by Chris Gallagher and Jay Alabaster

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 23rd August 2006