Sony, the electric appliance giant, said it will form a joint venture with its financial unit and nine other companies to launch the electronic prepaid Edy money card using Sony-developed technology.

Sony, the electric appliance giant, said it will form a joint venture with its financial unit and nine other companies to launch the electronic prepaid Edy money card using Sony-developed technology. Sony will hold a 5 percent stake in the venture, and its wholly owned financial unit, Sony Finance International, will own 42 percent, the companies said at a news conference. NTT DoCoMo, the supplier of the popular i-mode cellular phone services, will own 15 percent as will the Sakura Bank. Other investors are Toyota Motor, DENSO, DDI, Sanwa Bank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. Electronic money cards have embedded integrated circuits for storing data such as the holder's transaction record and bank account total in digital form. Two types of cards exist: One requires contact with reading equipment to exchange data; the other does not. Sony's technology involves the noncontact type. The venture will form in January, with the start of services planned for October. Edy cardholders will be able to pay for items faster at convenience stores and other shops equipped with reading machines, the companies said. In the next five years, the venture will issue 30 million cards, the companies said, adding that up to 30,000 stores on the Internet and 1 million vending machines will accept them.