Incoming Aomori JET from the US here. I know it's difficult to get a Japanese credit card within your first year in Japan, and I also heard debit cards in the American sense aren't really a thing in Japan? I'm wondering then how people book flights/hotels for any vacations or shop online. Do you use your home credit or debit cards and then just wire money back to your account later, or is there something I'm missing that's less convoluted? Obv things like shinkansen can be paid in cash.
How do you pay for domestic/vacation travel or online shopping?
For reference I got rejected by rakuten perhaps because of my age. (I was 20 when I started JET). I use yucho now
I got a Rakuten credit card about 3 months after I arrived. It was great! Credit was pretty low though and it doesn’t really work the same as the credit cards I use in Canada, but it got the job done!
Wise Card, or you can try applying for Japanese credit cards. It might be hard but it's worth trying to apply for them. I got my Rakuten card within my first four months being here.
Wise Card though is easy to set up though!
wise card. get one
To optimize, you should get a US based travel credit card without foreign transaction fees. If you pay out of a bank account, you’re leaving points/cashback/airline miles on the line. A card that awards more for restaurants/hotels/flights is nice if you’re planning on doing a lot of travel. Then, of course, pay off the card every month so you only profit and are never charged interest. If you have a big trip planned it’s also a good chance to get a bonus for x amount of spend if timed right. Also, if you want a new card when already in Japan and have family in the US, you can apply for a card, have it sent to family and then have them mail it to you and/or just get the card info and add it on Apple wallet or similar.
The foreign wire fees + yen weakness might eat into any points rewards. But something is better than nothing, and US cards are superior.
Yeah, I already have a US credit credit card that’s great for travel, I just wanted to avoid constantly wiring money back and forth unnecessarily converting to USD, especially if I’m making travel purchases for within Japan!
I use a Wise card, transfer money via a furikomi from my Japanese bank account to my wise account
Use rakuten bank
I live in Aomori and I am with Aomori bank, the debit card is a visa card you can use online and in physical stores. I've heard from a JET in my town that getting a credit card with rakuten is easy.
Use a no foreign transaction fee US credit card.
Use Charles Schwab as your US checking account. It has no fees and the debit card also has no ATM fees and reimburses any fees
Most banks have had debit cards here for 10 years.
That plus things like Paypay and Linepay are amazing.
Debit cards are not that hard to get, not sure who told you that.
Yucho makes it a separate application that people do get denied for, and there have been stories floating around of MUFG branch staff denying people who don't speak Japanese fluently if they're having a bad day, which is where I think that came from.
This is where your CIR should step in. Or if you have a kind JTE.
ESID, I got a JCB debit card in Akita within my first month and it largely works the same as my American ones. I have used it for all my domestic travel, to pay for my flight home, and on Amazon. Banks can be a bit specific about the application though so make sure to get some help.
i use my regular debit card quite often, if i wanna book a flight or hotel i just send myself money through wise. it works really well!!
I just use line pay which works like a debit card but I still use my American cards as well and just use wise to transfer money over
BTW, Line Pay is ending in a few months.
Link your bank account to your Paypay and Bam you have a makeshift credit card that works all over Japan.
if you’re gonna be using aomori bank, they have debit cards now!
I'm with MUFG, they offered me a debit card when I was opening the account, arrived at the same time as my cash card. I actually didn't realise debit cards weren't an automatic thing here until that point.
If someone is helping you set up the account (one of my teachers came with me) ask them in advance if the bank offers debit cards, and if they don't you can maybe ask them to help you find a bank/account that does.
Others have mentioned pay by conbini and the like.
I'll just chime in that I think it's an oft repeated myth that it's hard to get a credit card. What I think is happening is people aren't filling out the forms correctly or aren't able to answer the phone call, in japanese or course, for identity confirmation. It's worth trying for a card when you set up your bank account. Just ask for the lowest limit they offer and you'll probably be approved.
I filled out the form with my supervisor in Japanese and there was no phone call for identity confirmation, just an outright rejection lol. Was rejected 3 more times. It IS hard
I did it myself and got approved first time. It IS easy.
No clue why you might get rejected the first time but subsequent times it's because your credit history shows nothing but a recent rejection so everyone else will also reject you. After a rejection it's advised to wait six months before you apply again.
I recommend you always ask for the lowest limit and no special stuff like cashing or revolving payments or whatever. Keep it simple and low risk for the card companies and you're going to have higher chances of approval.
Yah I haven't really had issues either. 1st card was Amazon, which only difficult part was having to mail stuff in back and forth because of my long name. Second card I got was a PayPay card and I just got the Mercari card few weeks ago.
I have only been in Japan for about 1.5 years, so it might be people not filling forms right
What happens I think is people make a mistake or ask for way to much credit or whatever on their first application. That failed credit card application becomes literally the only thing on their credit history and the other cards see that they failed an application in the last six months and also reject it. So they assume everyone is rejecting them and it's impossible to get one. But they'll probably get approved if they just wait like six months.
Know tons of foreigners who've gotten cards on their first application and one person who got rejected. The person who got rejected asked for a high credit limit and I think that's the reason.
It's often "common knowledge" in JET circles that its hard for foreigners to get credit cards but I suspect this is just a line they've been fed by a supervisor that doesn't want to be bothered babysitting a useless JET that can't do their own application so they just repeat that fact through the rumor mill and everyone is too scared to even apply. At least that's how it was in the circles I was in, most people didn't bother to apply for literal fear of rejection. I just figured fuck it might as well try anyway and it worked fine.
Thats been my same mentality here 🤣🤣🤣
Lot of people in my placement didn't know you could get a debit card until I showed up one day and had it. Not sure if they were entirely unsure if you could or just flat out didnt bother trying
Mix of both I reckon. I hate going to the bank and doing paperwork on a good day so I reckon with most people they'd prefer to get information from the JET grapevine rather than do their own research since it's hard, and well I might as well believe it if it gives me an excuse not to go to the bank.
Granted the JET grapevine is like a game of telephone that's been going on for decades so you're better off not taking much of what you hear from it at face value. It's basically a never ending churn of newly arrived culture shocked people repeating very surface level and very limited viewpoints and opinions of the country they don't have much experience with given a thin veneer of legitimacy because it's what everyone is saying. Sempai told me X, sempai has been here for a whole year and knows stuff, sempai heard it from his sempai, who heard it from his sempai, who heard it from his sempai, all the way back to the before time of the ancient JETS like ten or so years ago, long before anyone who isnl around now remembers.
yeah, I think once I have my first pay stub/deposit from my BOE I’m going to give applying for one a shot!
Yeah honestly I think it's worth applying for when you first open your bank account. Just ask for the lowest limit. I've known people who got denied after asking for lime 10,000 usd limits or whatever because that's what their card at home had and they don't understand that their credit score in Japan is fresh. No history.
Flights and hotels should accept your overseas card.
There's conbini pay, or cash pay for a lot of things, even online. Most hotels you can choose to pay in cash when you arrive, even if you book online.
Aomori Bank does offer debit cards, I think.
And there's "cashless" methods like paypay too.
There's a lot of options. Getting a Japanese credit card is helpful but in no way required.
Thank you! I’ll see what bank I get set up with and if I can’t get approved for a rakuten card I’ll see about requesting a debit card instead
From my time lol If I ordered something off Amazon, I have paid in cash at delivery (I think I did once or twice) and also have paid at the combini was another option which I did more because I would ship stuff to my nearest combini so I wouldn’t have to miss deliveries. For hotels, I was able to pay at check-in. I was able to get a debit card from my bank later though. I also made sure to have cash when I needed it before public holidays/vacation. If I needed cash, I just go to my bank atm or a 7/11 atm.
Definitely there are more options now.
Paying at conbini just seems so weird to me as a foreigner lol but I'm glad to hear you can also get stuff delivered there!
You can do a lot at convenience stores in Japan tbh They are actually convenient compared to other countries 😅 I definitely miss them
So I was lucky, I got a credit card right after arriving.
However you may enjoy using paypay, its an app and is a really popular payment method. Pretty much accepted almost everywhere.
okay this is good to know! I don't think at the zoom session I just went to with my consulate things like linepay or paypay came up, thank you!
Try to imagine Paypay being very similar to Venmo.
I paid with my US credit card, but eventually got an SMBC credit card. I also remember using bank transfers.
If you end up getting a bank and not JP post, check if you can get a credit card with them.
did you get set up with a bank other than JP post? was it something you did when you first arrived or did you make another bank account? it does seem like people have luck with getting the Rakuten card after a few months in Japan
My BOE took me to JP Post, so I used that. I was in a remote area and the only other bank was a prefectural bank. I don't know your placement and if you have national banks in your area.
When I got a different job in Japan after JET, I remained with JP Post, but tried SMBC for the credit card and it was fine. I think I tried for an Aeon card and was rejected within 2 hours on a weekend. During JET I think one of us had a Rakuten card as well.
Don't you get a debit card once you have a bank account? I was kind of betting on that. What do they have then if not debit cards?
You get a cash card with your account opening. It is used at ATMs to withdraw money and perform other transactions, but cannot be used as a debit card. Debit cards are usually something that you have to apply for and are usually an extra cost, if they are offered at your bank at all.
Japan is a heavily cash bashed society so most people use cash. Though I think more cashless payments are being accepted, but they are usually things where you still have to load cash onto the card. Credit cards you can apply for but usually you wont be granted one for a few months so that you have proof of income.
Yes, I understand the cash based society thing. But how do people buy things online?
Probably pay at combini, or pay on delivery.
Or they could be using a credit card
Pay on delivery! What a strange thing. Thank you.
You get a cash card, which lets you deposit/withdraw money and some other basic things, but it is not a debit card. You have to apply for a debit card separately.
Ah I see. So you can't use the cash card for online transactions, for example?
Nope, just withdrawing cash and transfering money basically.
I've always paid for hotels/hostels with cash on check-in. For things like flights or Amazon, I use Linepay.
LINE Pay is going away next year, I am also using it.
I believe it's going to be merged into PayPay?
That is correct. Around April or somthing.
I use my Japanese debit card. Other jets seem to use rakuten