Quick Guide to Prepaid Cards in Japan

 There are multiple types of cards commonly avaiable in Japan:

• Cash Cards (ATM Cards) - These can be used at ATMs to deposit, withdraw, and transfer cash, and sometimes with the J-Debit network to pay for things at a limited number of stores.  These cards serve the same purpose as passbooks that are used for some accounts, and you can typically have both on the same account.  
• "Normal" Credit Cards - These are cards with the JCB, Visa, Mastercard, or Amex brand that can be used to pay for goods and services.  Most of these cards support the contact IC (Chip & Pin) standard, and may also have a magnetic stripe.  In addition, most have anumber printed on them that can be used for online purchases.  "Numberless" (NL) cards without a number or mag stripe are becoming more common in recent times for purposes of fraud prevention.  Some allow creation of "virtual numbers" online.   Also, some cards support international contactless payment standards like "Visa Touch", and some support Japanese contactless payment standards like iD or QuickPay.  The major brands can also be used to charge prepaid contactless payment methods, such as Suica and Edy.  Typically, purchases made on a credit card are due in full the following billing cycle by default, though it is a common feature to be able to spread a payment out into N payments, where N may be anywhere from 2 to 24 payments.  Revolving payment plans are also supported by some cards.  Typically payments made with 1 or 2 payments are free of charge, whereas payments made over more than 2 months, including revolving payments charge interest or a service fee.  Some credit cards will alllow you to generate virtual numbers for online shopping as well.  We will cover credit cards in more detail in a future installment.  
• Debit Cards (often called Check Cards overseas, called "Shopping Cards" by many banks in Japan) - Besides the J-Debit feature sometimes supported by cash cards, Visa and JCB debit cards exist, which link directly to a bank account.  Sometimes these are issued as a separate card (as is the case for SMBC, Mitsubishi, and many of the larger banks), and sometimes you will be issued a combination cash card/debit card (as is the case with Sony Bank, Rakuten Bank, Prestia, Japan Post Bank, and others).  Some banks will not issue a physical debit card, but will issue virtual debit cards.  au Jibun bank follows this pattern, issuing a cash card, but allowing you to generate a credit card number in the app for online payments.  Like credit cards, debit cards may or may not support international and/or domestic contactless payments, and some banks allow the generation of virtual numbers.    
• Contactless IC cards (electronic money) - These are stored value cards that hold the value internally, not in an account.  They can purchased and used anonymously, and charged by cash or sometimes credit card.   Mobile app versions exist which will work on Japan market smart phones, and work the same way as the physical card in that they need to be charged before use.  These include Suica, Pasmo, Edy, Waon, etc.  Suica and Pasmo can be used for the bus and train, in addition to convenience stores, supermarkets, cafes, etc.  Almost all of these cards used in Japan are constructed using Sony's Felica technology, and are not compatible with NFC standards used in other countries.  
• Prepaid Cards (Prepaid Credit Cards) - These are essentially like debit cards, except they are deducting from a balance specific to the card, not directly from a linked bank account.  Some cards, however, can be set to automatically charge from a linked bank account if the balance is not enough.  Cash can not negerally be removed from these cards once charged.  Like credit cards, they will usually have a magnetic stripe, and may have contact (EMV) or contactless IC (Felica or NFC) chips.  All of the cards I am aware of have a card number for online shopping as well.   

Prepaid cards have the advantage of being generally easy to apply for and receive, as there is usually no credit check necessary.  They can be used for online payments, or at shops - but they can't directly be used to ride public transportation.  (They can generally be used to charge mobile Suica, etc., so they can be used indirectly for transportation).  

Prepaid cards also make budgeting easy, as you can put money into a prepaid card that you plan to spend for groceries, etc., to ensure you don't go over your limit, without worrying about using up the balance in your bank account that might be needed for direct debits, or receiving a large credit card bill in the future.  

Since prepaid cards vary in features, we will cover a few of the more common ones here:

SMBC Puripe (Prepaid)

This is Sumitomo Mitsubishi Bank's standard prepaid card.  (There are also ANA and Family versions)

Application: You don't need a bank account with them to apply, in fact basically anyone can apply online.  Technically, you need to have a mobile phone number / email address, and be at least 6 years old.  

Name: The card is issued with your actual name printed in Romaji on the front.

Brand: This card is Visa branded.

Contact IC: This is the only card I know of with a contact (Chip & Pin) IC.  That makes this card better if you plan to use it in person for large purchases, especially overseas.

International Contactless IC: Visa touch is supported on the card itself.  This will work in Japan but is only supported in a limited number of places and is usually inconvenient to use.  Better is the fact that this should work overseas as well.  Visa Touch is also supported on Apple Pay.  

Domestic Contactless ID: The physical card itself has no domestic contactless payment support, but if you register the card with Apple Pay or Google Pay, it supports iD.  Since a large number of shops support iD, this is quite convenient.  

Transportation IC: This card can be used to charge Mobile Suica.

Charge methods:

• Charge at 7-11 ATMs using cash.  No transaction fee.
• Charge online from the SMBC Prepaid site using an SMBC Credit Card.  No fee.
• Charge online from the SMBC Prepaid site using a non-SMBC Credit Card.  210 JPY Transaction fee.
• Charge online from SMBC Prepaid site using a bank account.  Works with most banks if you have net banking.  210 JPY Transaction Fee
• Charge from "V Point", if you have them. 
• Note: Credit card charges can be scheduled to charge automatically on a particular day of the month, or when the balance falls below a certain point.  

Balance check: The card has a QR code on the reverse, which can be used to check your balance without logging in.  This is super convenient, since it only takes a few seconds to check your balance.  You can scan the code once and save a bookmark on your phone, so that you can easily check the balance in the future without even scanning the code.  If you want to do anything else, such as charging the card or changing any settings, you will of course need to log in.  

Notifications: A mail will be sent when the card is used.  Optionally, you can set a monthly spending limit, over which another notification mail will be sent.

Design: This card is silver and rather plain looking, and in fact looks exactly like the normal SMBC credit cards, with the exception of "prepaid" printed in small grey lettering on the front.  The number is printed on the back of the card.  

Points & Cashback: 0.25% cash back, added to the balance on the 10th of each month based on the usage of the previous month.  

Maximum Balance: 300,000 JPY (~$3,000 USD)

Fees:

• Application / Initial Use: None
• Yearly Fee: None
• Charge Fee: Varies (Detailed above)
• Foreign Transactions: 4.07%

URL: https://www.smbc-card.com/prepaid/visaprepaid/index.jsp

d Card Prepaid

The mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo has their own credit card, d Card (previously: DCMX), and this is the prepaid version of that.  This card business is actually run by SMBC, so it is mostly the same as the SMBC Puripe card listed above.  

Application: You don't need any particular bank account or credit card to apply, in fact basically anyone can apply online.  There seems to be an impression that you need to be a Docomo user or have a d Card to apply, but this is not true.  You do need to create a "d Account" in order to apply, but anyone with an email address can do that.   Another requirement is that you must be at least 12 years old.   

Name: The card is issued withthe name "PREPAID MEMBER" printed on the front, so that name should be used when making online purchases.  

Brand: This card is Mastercard branded.

Contact IC: This card has no contact IC.  This means if you use the card in the traditional way (i.e. not contactless or online), you will need to swipe the card, and then sign in many cases.  

International Contactless IC: None on the physical card itself.  You will have to swipe the card if you are overseas.   The card supports Mastercard Contactless when using Apple Pay (Google Pay is not yet supported).  

Domestic Contactless ID: The iD standard is supported on the physical card itself, which means you can use the card contactlessly at most commercial retail stores in Japan.  (This is not surprisingly since Docomo is a big backer of iD).  

Transportation IC: This card can be used to charge Mobile Suica.

Charge methods:

• Charge at 7-11 ATMs using cash.  No transaction fee.
• Charge at the register at Lawson.
• Charge online from the SMBC Prepaid site using a  d Card Credit Card.  No fee.
• Charge online from the SMBC Prepaid site using a non-SMBC Credit Card.  204 JPY Transaction fee.
• Charge online from SMBC Prepaid site using a bank account.  Works with most banks if you have net banking.  204 JPY Transaction Fee
• Charge from d Point balance
• Charge from your Docomo cell phone account (i.e. add it to your monthly phone bill)

Balance check: The balance can be checked from the d Card Prepaid web site.  This site works on mobile, but you will have to log in even just to check your balance.  Once you log in, the browser will remember the login via cookies, but every time you access the site, you will need to enter your date of birth before you can do anything.  

Notifications: A mail will be sent when the card is used.  You can set up two email addresses.  

Design: The current design of the card is yellow on the front.  The card number is printed on the front of the card.  The card doubles as a d Point card, so there is a bar code on the reverse side for that.  

Points & Cashback: 1 d Point per 200 yen spent, which equates to 0.5%.  These points can be used to charge the card, among other things.  The card can be used as a point card, even when paying cash.  

Maximum Balance: 300,000 JPY (~$3,000 USD)

Fees:

• Application / Initial Use: None (The site lists a fee, but mentions it is currently being waived).  
• Yearly Fee: None
• Charge Fee: Varies (Detailed above)
• Foreign Transactions: 4.07%

URL: https://dcard.docomo.ne.jp/prepaid/index.html

JCB ANA Milage Club Prepaid Card

Interestingly, the almost identical looking Visa version of this card is offered by SMBC, but the JCB version is offered directly by JCB itself.  Interestingly, only prepaid card (other than gift cards) that JCB offers is the ANA branded one, however when applying, you can choose between receiving miles or cash back - but either way it will be ANA branded.  Even a cash back card still has an ANA point number on it, though, and so can you can use this number when buying plane tickets from ANA or affiliated airlines.  Note that ANA is part of Star Alliance.  

Application:  There are no real requirements listed for application on the main page, but the application process is somewhat more involved than most others, much like applying for a normal credit card.   

Name: The card is issued withthe name your actual name (in Romaji) printed on the front, so that name should be used when making online purchases.  

Brand: This card is JCB branded.

Contact IC: This card has no contact IC.  This means if you use the card in the traditional way (i.e. not contactless or online), you will need to swipe the card, and then sign in many cases.  

International Contactless IC: None on the physical card itself.  Unknown if  this works on Mobile, so you should assume contactless payment won't be available overseas.  

Domestic Contactless ID: None supported on the physical card itself.  The QuickPay standard is supported on Google Pay.  Apple Pay is not mentioned anywhere.  

Transportation IC: Untested.  (Presumably works).  

Charge methods:

• No current ability to charge at ATMs.  
• Charge at the register at Lawson.  There is a limit of 49,000 JPY per charge.  No fee.  
• Charge online from the MyPage site using a  JCB Credit Card or debit card.  Same 49,000 JPY limit per charge as above.  No fee.
• Charging online from the MyPayge site using a non-JCB Credit Card is not supported.
• Charge online from MyPage side using a bank account.  Works with most banks if you have net banking.  110JPY if the charge amount is under 10,000 JPY (~$100 US), no transaction fee if the amount is 10,000 JPY or above.  The process is somewhat convoluted compared with most of the other cards on this list.  There is a limit of 29,000 JPY per charge when using this method.  
• Web Conbini - This is a method where you apply online, and then get a number which you need to use to pay at the convenience store.  The disadvantage is that you need to register online first, but the advantage is that it can be used at convenience stores besides Lawson, including 7-11, MiniStop, Family Mart, etc.  The transaction fees and limit are the same as when charging from a bank account.  

Balance check: The balance can be checked from the MyCard web site.  This site works on mobile, but you will have to log in even just to check your balance.  There is a QR Code on the back of the card to make this easier if you are on mobile.  

Notifications: A mail will be sent when the card is used.  You can set up two email addresses.  

Design: You can chose between grey, blue, or pink.  The card number is printed on the front of the card.  The card doubles as an ANA Milage Point card, so there is also a number printed on the front side for that.   

Points & Cashback: 

As mentioned above, you can choose between Miles or Cashback when applying for the card.  I will list both here:

Miles:

• You earn 5 miles per 1000 JPY spent (0.5%)
• This amount is added to your account at the end of the each month based on your spending from the 16th of the previous month until the 15th of the current month.  

Cashback: 

• You earn 1 JPY per 200 JPY spent (0.5%)
• This amount is added to your account on the 25th of the each month based on your spending from the 16th of the previous month until the 15th of the current month.  

Regardless of which method you choose, there is also a bonus paid twice a year based on the amount you charge (not spend):

• From March 16th to Sept. 15th - Bonus will be paid at the end of Sept.
• From Sept 16th to March 15th - Bonus will be paid at the end of March.
• If you charged at least 120,000 JPY, you will receive an additional 180 JPY/Miles.
• If you charged at least 240,000 JPY, you will receive  an additional 360 JPY/Miles (total).  

Since you can charge this card in person using cash or via bank account for free relatively easily, it is one of the better cards if you are wanting to earn points and save on fees.  

Maximum Balance: 300,000 JPY (~$3,000 USD)

Fees:

• Application / Initial Use: Application is free, but 550 JPY is charged on the first use.  
• Yearly Fee: None
• Charge Fee: Varies (Detailed above)
• Foreign Transactions: Not Mentioned.  

URL: https://www.jcb.co.jp/prepaid/ana_prepaid.html

au Pay (Prepaid) / Previously au WALLET

This card is offered by KDDI's au Mobile phone carrier.  

Application: You must have an au Pay Account (and app), and also be either:

• An au subscriber (mobile or hikari (fiber) internet)
• An au Jubun Bank account holder with an account linked to au Pay

People have the impression that you must be an au Subsriber to get this card, but since anyone with an au Jibun Bank account can get one (and you can apply for an account online easily enough), it is actually open to anyone who can open a bank account.  

It should be noted that there is also an "au Pay" card which is not prepaid, but a normal credit card.  

The au Pay service is a basically an app based QR Code payment app, much like PayPay, etc.  You need to install this app and create an account.  Once you link it to an account, you will be able to charge and use the app to pay via bar code or QR code and charge mobile Suica from the app as well.  If you link it to an au Jibun Bank account then they will automatially send you an au Pay prepaid card.  Presumably the same is true if you have an au subscription on the same au Account used by the app.  

This card is really an extension of the au Pay app.  

Name: The card is issued with your actual name printed in Romaji on the front.

Brand: This card is MasterCard branded.

Contact IC: This has no contact IC.  This means you will usually need to sign if you are charging a large amount on the physical card.  

International Contactless IC: None on the card itself.  

Domestic Contactless ID: 

• None on the card itself.  
• Supports charging Mobile Suica from your prepaid balance right in the au Pay app.  
• Supports QuickPay on ApplePay

Transportation IC: Untested (presumably works)

Charge methods:

• Charge at Lawson/7-11 ATMs using cash.  No transaction fee.
• When charging at the ATM, you can use the physical card, or a QR code generated by the au Pay app.  This means you don't need to bring the actual card with you to charge it at an ATM.  
• Charge at Lawson by paying cash at the register.  
• Charge using cash at au some Shops using cash at a "SaKuTTO" kiosk.  (Transaction fee unknown).  
• Supposedly you can charge from the au Pay web site, however it seems to just direct you to the app.  
• Charge from the au Pay app - including from au Jibun Bank Account
• You can charge from an au Pay (credit) card in the app
• You can charge from (and view the balance of) your au Jibun Bank in the App
• You can charge from other credit cards in the app.  Apparently all Mastercard and Amex cards work, while only some Visa and JCB cards do.  
• There is an auto-charge setting which has two modes: Real-time, and "staged" (for lack of a better term).  
• Realtime just pulls the amount needed to complete a purchase from your linked au Jibun bank account if there isn't enough money.  (This is also how the now discountinued JP Bank Mijica card worked).  In essence, your prepaid card acts like a debit card when using this setting.  
• "Staged" will charge your account by X yen when it falls below Y yen.  For example, you could set it to charge your card by 10,000 JPY whenever it falls below 5,000 JPY.  That way you know the card always has at between 5,000 and 15,000 JPY.  This mode keeps your bank account ledger much cleaner by taking money in blocks.  (This is also similar to how e-money auto-charge credit cards like View Suica and Pasmo credit cards work).
• Auto-charge can only be enabled by people who have au contracts.  (mobile phone, fiber, etc).  

Balance check: You can check the balance on the web site or application.  

Notifications: No Information.

Design: The card apparently comes in two varieties, orange and silver.  The front of the card has the card number and accountholder name.  The back has a signature panel and WebMoney bar code.  WebMoney is basically a generic gift-card type format that can be used on some online shops, and is supported bu the au Pay card.   

Points & Cashback: 

• au  uses Ponta points
• 1 Ponta point is awarded per 200 JPY spent (0.5%)
• For shops that specifically support the Ponts Point scheme, you can ean additional points (i.e. 1%)
• If you link a Ponta account to your au account in the au Pay app, you can pay via Ponta points from the au Pay app
• You can use Ponta points to charge the balance of your au Pay account. (and thus prepaid card)

Maximum Balance: 500,000 JPY (~$5,000 USD)

Fees:

• Application / Initial Use: None
• Yearly Fee: None
• Charge Fee: None

URL: https://www.au.com/payment/prepaid/

Other Examples

• Merucari is an online fleemarket app that also has a QR Code based payment system.  For example, you can sell goods, and hold a balance in Merucari for the funds you received.  You can transfer that balance back to your bank account, but you can also pay for goods with QR code, or, with Google Pay, you can pay using iD.  Merucari will also send you a physical prepaid card if you request.  This makes it similar to au Pay in many respects since it is app centric and the Physical card is just an add-on.  
• There is a prepaid card names Kyash.
• There are prepaid cards issued by banks and linked to bank accounts.  
• Japan Post used to have the Mijica card, but they discontinued this and replaced it with a debit card
• Rakuten bank offers a prepaid card that can be charged from a Rakuten bank balance.
• There are prepaid cards issued by credit card companies and daughter cards t a main card
• Examples in this list of prepaid cards linked to normal credit cards mentioned aboce include "d Card prepaid" and "SMBC Prepaid Card", but these cards can be issued without having a credit card from the company, and charged using other methods.    
• A good example of a prepaid card dependent on a credit card is the Marui ePos prepaid card, which can be applied for as a daughter card to the Marui ePos Credit Card.  

Overall Thoughts

Debit/Credit Card style Prepaid cards still have minimal market share penetration in Japan.  For example, Mitsubishi Tokyo Bank offers Visa debit cards and credit cards, but not prepaid cards.  Likewise there are no American Express branded prepaid cards at this point in time.  Depending on your use case, charging Mobile Suica from a debit card may be useful instead.  

Bank accounts can typically be opened and maintained for free, meaning that the difference between debit cards and prepaid cards is mainly that debit cards are connected to a bank account, so you can always withdraw the cash.  

If you need to keep money in your bank account for pending direct debits and don't want to worry about overspending, you can open a separate "allowance" account at another bank, or use a prepaid card.  

Gift card style cards are another option, including virtual gift cards such as Amazon, etc. - but prepaid cards are more flexible in where they can be used.  

Things like Merucari can function as virtual prepaid cards even without a physical card.  

Although the number of prepaid cards on the market is limited at this time, there is still a variety of cards with different features for different needs.  For example: 

• If you want to use the card primarily for online purchases, any of the cards listed above will work fine, though JCB is not accepted by all foreign sites.  Some sites don't accept prepaid or debit cards at all.  
• If you want a card with a contact ID chip for Chip & Pin payment or international contactless payment in person, then the SMBC Puripe card is currently your only choice.
• If you want a card with built in Japanese e-Money, then the d Card is your best choice.
• If you want a card with e-Money that works on your phone, then which card you should choose depends on which brand you prefer (iD or QuickPay), and whether you have an Apple or Android device.  d Card and au Pay cards work on Apple devices, whereas SMBC Puripe and ANA JCB Prepaid work on Android devices with Google Pay.  
• The usable charge methods and fees vary by card, so which card you choose may depend on whether you cant to charge by credit card, bank account, or cash.  

Additional Considerations:

• Some web sites accept prepaid cards, but require that cards you use have 3D-Secure support.  3D-Secure is a system where you have to enter a password when registering the card, for fraud prevention purposes.  Not all cards support this, for example au Pay Prepaid just implemented this feature recently.
• Prepaid cards are still behind normal credit cards and debit cards in terms of features.  For example, some banks and credit card issuers allow you to set the times of day when a card will work, and precise spending limits per day.  For example, with a Rakuten Visa Debit card, you could set the card to only allow charges of up to 8,000 JPY per day.  If you intended to use the card only at the supermarket, this could prevent fraud.  Likewise, if you know you will only want to use a card during the daytime, you sould set it to be inactive between 10pm and 10am.  Many debit/credit cards, such as Marui ePos Credit card and PayPay Bank's debit card, allow you to set up virtual card numbers with set spending limits and expiration dates for online purchases.  Many of these features are not yet available on prepaid cards.  
• If you are not looking to use the card online, or hold a large baalnce, and will mainly be using it for small payments at places like supermarkets and convenience stores, than a stored value card like Suica may be a better fit.   
• Even though prepaid cards don't involve the issue extending credit, you still need to register your personal information and provide ID and proof of address.  If you prefer something you can use instantly and anonymously, then again stored value e-Money like Suica may be a better fit.
• Invoices that come by mail for things like utility bills can generally only be paid in cash, and not with debit cards.  Generally Nanaco can also be used at 7-11, and other exceptions may apply.