Apple Publishes New IPhone 7 Plus ‘Race’ Ad That Demonstrates Apple Pay In Japan

Apple has just released a new Japan exclusive iPhone 7 ad titled “Race.” The 30-second ad features the Jet Black iPhone 7 Plus and a very-fast paced run between two men in a busy part of town. The ad ends with an iPhone-equipped man winning the race by using Apple Pay to board a train.

Apple Pay just launched in Japan, after being available in the United States and a few other countries two years ago. This is because Apple had to implement the FeliCa mobile payment tech that is used within the country.

FeliCa is a technology developed by Sony that allows users to store things like train cards, bus passes, store cards, and credit and debit cards on their mobile devices. The technology is the most widely used mobile payment platform in Japan with over 1.9 million payment terminal supporting it. Last year, FeliCa payment transactions totaled $46 billion in Japan.

At this time, only the iPhone 7 (or 7 Plus), and the Apple Watch Series 2 currently have the hardware to support Apple Pay in the country.

To use FeliCa, you not only need either an iPhone 7 or an Apple Watch Series 2, but it also needs to be a Japanese model: devices sold in the U.S. and elsewhere are not compatible. Locals will be able to use Apple Pay at any terminal supporting Suica, QUICPay, or iD.