NTT Docomo will begin introducing IC chip-based identity verification at Docomo Shops and authorized retailers across Japan on August 20, adding electronic document checks to customer procedures that have traditionally relied on visual inspection.
The system will read identity information from My Number Cards, driver’s licenses, residence cards and special permanent resident certificates. Data including a customer’s name and address can then be transferred directly into Docomo’s contract system, reducing manual entry and the risk of transcription errors.
For My Number Cards, customers will be able to use Japan’s Public Personal Authentication Service, known as JPKI, with the password attached to the card’s digital signature certificate. Docomo will also support an eKYC-IC method that reads the portrait stored on a document’s chip and uses it in the identity check. The other three supported credentials will use the eKYC-IC route.
The rollout will initially apply to new mobile subscriptions, name changes, contract succession and the issuance or reissuance of UIM cards and eSIMs. Docomo plans to expand the procedures covered by the system after the initial deployment. The carrier is positioning chip reading as a response to fraudulent contracts opened with forged documents or another person’s identity, which can supply phone lines used in financial scams and other crimes.
Japan has steadily widened the use of the My Number credential beyond government transactions. The country recently made the card’s IC chip available to approved private-sector applications, enabling companies to build services that rely on chip-held identity data rather than images of a document. It also became the first country outside the United States to offer a national identity credential in Apple Wallet.
Docomo intends to connect those developments by supporting identity verification with a My Number Card stored in the iPhone Wallet app during fiscal 2026. Under that planned workflow, a customer would authenticate on the phone with a face, fingerprint or device credential and complete an in-store identity check without presenting the physical card.
The store deployment brings digital identity verification into a large, nationwide retail network. It also combines fraud controls with operational automation: chip data provides a stronger basis for checking the document while automatic transfer of verified details can shorten the contract process for legitimate customers.
Sources: NTT Docomo, BigGo Finance
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By Ali Nassar-Smith
