BBC Online has posted a interesting report on the incredibly rapid acceptance of smartcard technology by the Japanese to pay for their train tickets. Apparently the system – which lets you pay for your journey by waving your card over the top of the reader as you pass the turnstile – have been adopted by 3.6 million out of the 4.5 million potential users of one particular train service in just six months.

The cards can be topped up with money as needed and can also cope with micro-payments, which is very interesting as it could point towards a future where we shop and pay merely by waving our credit cards at a reader as we leave a store.