Suica: How Japan's First IC Transit Card Was Nearly Killed by Design

Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

Suica, Japan's first IC transit card, processes a full transaction in under 200 milliseconds without a battery or internet connection. The article traces its development from Sony's initial rejection by JR East to its success in Hong Kong, and the critical design flaw that nearly doomed the project—solved by tilting the reader 13.5 degrees to match natural hand motion.