Press Releases（Archive）
FY2012 - FY2003

From Tuesday, March 18, 2008, East Japan Railway Company (JR East; Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Satoshi Seino) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West; Headquarters: Kita-ku, Osaka; President and CEO: Masao Yamazaki) will start mutual use⁽¹⁾ of JR East's Suica and JR West's ICOCA as e-money.

Suica e-money was introduced on March 22, 2004 and is now used widely in and outside of stations, mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Outlets offering Suica services totaled 23,560, as of the end of November 2007, with mutual use of PASMO, issued by PASMO Co., Ltd. launched on March 18, 2007.
ICOCA e-money was introduced on October 1, 2005 and the number of outlets offering the service, both in and outside of stations, is expanding steadily in the Keihanshin, Okayama and Hiroshima areas. The total number of outlets accepting ICOCA e-money was approximately 5,500 as of the end November 2007.

With the start of mutual use of e-money, areas and stores where Suica and ICOCA e-money can be used will expand dramatically. Customer convenience will improve greatly and the appeal of Suica and ICOCA will both be further enhanced. Both companies will continue to make efforts to expand the number of outlets accepting e-money and to upgrade and enrich Suica and ICOCA services with the aim of further improving customer convenience.

*	Suica is a registered trademark of East Japan Railway Company.
*	ICOCA is a registered trademark of West Japan Railway Company.

(1)	Mutual use of Suica and ICOCA as IC fare-cards commenced on August 1, 2004.

*	Area, number of cards issued and member stores are as of the end of November 2007.