Tokyo, Japan, May 15, 2002 (JCN Newswire via COMTEX) -- NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and
its eight regional subsidiaries announced today that they will introduce a new
billing system that enablesimode(R) users to pay monthly mobile phone bills
at convenience stores using a two-dimensional bar code on the screens of their
mobile phones.
The service, dubbed "combien?" will be available at two am/pm Japan
convenience stores in Tokyo ("Ichiban-cho Honsha Biru" and "Kokusai
Akasaka Biru" stores) beginning May 20, 2002. Service will expand to some
1,400 am/pm stores nationwide by early July. It will also be available at several
Lawson convenience stores by mid-July and expand to some 700 locations in Tokyo's
23 wards and Nagoya as of September. DoCoMo is also negotiating similar arrangements
with other convenience stores.
Since the service eliminates the need for a hard-copy invoice, customers can
easily pay their bills whenever they visit a participating convenience store.
The service is targeted at i-mode users who pay their bills by invoice.
The bar code is downloaded from a dedicated site linked to the i-mode portal.
To prevent double payment, the bar code is valid only on the day when it is
downloaded. A dedicated scanner is used to read the two-dimensional bar code,
after which the customer pays the bill. The procedure for downloading the bar
code is as follows:
1. Go to i Menu site and select "Menu List."
2. Select "DoCoMo Billing Site."
3. Select "combien?"
4. Enter password (for voice mail, not i-mode).
5. Bar code is downloaded and stored in phone until end of day.
Note: The above windows appear in Japanese only.
All i-mode users, including FOMA(R) subscribers, except users of D501i, ER209i
and NM502i phone models, can access the service. There is no fee for the service
and users merely pay a small transmission charge to download the bar code
.
i-mode and FOMA are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc.
in Japan and other countries.
About NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company with more
than 40 million customers. The company provides a wide variety of leading-edge
mobile multimedia services. These include, the world's most popular mobile internet
service, which provides e-mail and internet access to over 31 million subscribers,
and, launched in 2001, the world's first 3G mobile service. In addition to wholly
owned subsidiaries in the United States, Europe and Brazil, the company is expanding
its global reach through strategic joint ventures and other alliances with mobile
and multimedia service providers in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America.
The company is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM)
Stock Exchanges. For more information, visit www.nttdocomo.com.
Source: NTT DoCoMo
