Suica definitely works at a few places in T1 South Wing (the UA/ANA area), such as the drugstore and the FaSoLa electronics store.

They don't have anything like this anywhere in America? I know Boston and Vancouver don't. Boston has Charlie Card, but it's only good on T unless things have changed in the last few yrs. What about NYC? What about Europe? I read that London has something like this, although I never bothered to get it on my visits there. I only really know Jpn and Hong Kong very well, and both places have it.

We have the PRESTO card in the greater Toronto Area, which is valid on trains, buses, and some subways (and I think streetcars) across the region, with more systems being added in further away areas (Niagara etc.). You can't use it in convenience stores, but there has been discussion about this. Mine is set to automatically reload from my credit card, you can also top it up by credit, debit or cash at stations, and cards online.

In London, England, the Oyster card is similar - you can use it on a variety of transport, but again, I don't think you can use it at convenience stores.

Credit card companies are deeply entrenched in American market, and it seems like Visa PayWave/Master PayPass-based systems are in the works for public transportation payment systems.

For example, Chicago Transit Authority replaced their contactless Chicago Card with Ventra Card. Ventra cards may optionally work as a prepaid debit card; they can be used as credit card in stores.

NYC MTA is also in the process of replacing their magnetic MetroCards, and looks like they will go with the same system. The implementer for both systems are the same company: Cubic Transportation.

True but a lot of places are starting to accept the wireless payment that is pretty common in many new credit and debit cards. Think it is limited to £20 per transaction at the moment but I use it pretty much all the time.

We have contactless payment, up to $100 here in Canada - it is pretty much everywhere now, makes my life much easier, to the point I feel put out if I actually have to enter my PIN!

On Narita Express, cart vending will be gone soon.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan...st-trains.html

On trains which accept IC card payment, you can request a receipt.
Handy printer picture ->
https://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2007_2/20080301.pdf

I'd never heard of Ventra card, but that's interesting to hear because that does seem a little bit like Octopus/Suica/Pasmo if it can be used for both public transport and retail.

List of "smart cards":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smart_cards

I live in SEA, and I've never even heard of Orca Card. I bet most of these cards aren't even really widespread and most are for trains/buses only.

T-money in Seoul can also be used on public transportation and convenience stores.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-money

There are a few transportation systems which accept EMV contactless credit cards. I think London Transport is one of them?

However, you can't use these cards for cross regional travel, e.g. Shizuoka to Tokyo.

The main difference between Oyster and Suica (and other Japanese IC cards) is the former offers substantially discounted fares while the latter is simply for convenience (with the exception of a few yens rounded up to the nearest 10 yen on conventional tickets but not charged if using IC cards).

What is the minimum amount konbini will let you add to Suica? Do the lopi machines let you add value too?

Well, I suppose you could describe it like that. From my perspective, Oyster is just enabling you to avoid the obscene gouging that you'll be subjected to if you buy a paper ticket. And, in fact, it's the ONLY currency that you can use on a London bus now. (Cash fares for buses have been eliminated).

Suica is so amazing I've opted to get a Suica credit card. :p
It auto charges at the gates when the balance falls below a preset limit.

It may depend on the particular chain, but as a point of reference, Family Mart lets you charge any of the following 4 possible amounts: ¥1000, ¥3000, ¥5000 or ¥10000.

There are quite a few train lines throughout Japan, including JR, where IC cards are still unsupported. For example, in the greater Tokyo area, Suica and other IC cards are unsupported on the Kururi line (Chiba), the Kashima line (Chiba/Ibaraki), the Karasuyama line (Tochigi) as well as a few other stations on otherwise supported lines. For the most part, this is unlikely to incovenience tourists, but there are a few exceptions (a place like Takeo onsen in Saga has some popularity among Korean tourists, say).

Using suica
 

Fuji-Q express also doesn't take suica at Otsuki. You have to pay in cash for tickets.