Line, the Japanese messaging service, has launched Line Taxi as a product which works entirely within a users' existing account.
The tech set-up is similar to other taxi-app services, other than there is no need to download a discrete app. Customers can call a taxi directly using Line, which uses the phone's GPS to identify a user's location and offer estimated wait times.
Payments are made via the Line Pay digital wallet. Taxi customers will need to register with Line Pay in advance.
The product will be delivered via Line's link-up with Nihon Kotsu, a taxi and limousine business which has been around for eighty years. It is making some 3,340 cabs throughout Tokyo available for the launch of Line taxi.
As Line Taxi expands across Japan, it will integrate Nihon Kotsu's partners into the product, making nearly 23,000 taxis available, the largest available network in Japan.
The launch phase is in Japanese only.
Reports from the region suggest that Line Taxi now offers serious competition to Uber, which also operates in Tokyo. However, Line Taxi will only be available for locals as a Japanese credit card is needed to have a Line Pay account.
Uber's range of payment options means that it can target international business and leisure travellers to Tokyo, which is widely accepted to be the world's largest city.
NB: Tokyo skyline image via Shutterstock
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