Job Discussion Forums

[GreenCardigan]

One of the world's great mysteries: How do you get a credit card in Japan as a foreigner?

Don't laugh! I'm 30 years old and I've never owned a credit card! Never wanted one.

Now I need one, but everytime I apply, the Japanese banks turn me down--even my own bank turned me down. What's up with that.

In Canada, I had an excellent credit rating, owing to the fact that I paid off all my student debt quickly.

TD Bank would send me applications for Gold Cards, but I just didn't need it at the time.

Nowadays, I travel a lot more, and, instead of having to go to the travel agent each time, I'd rather just purchase online.

So my question is how do you get a credit card in Japan as a non-Japanese person? Any Advice? Anyone been through this?

[Chris21]

Japanese banks are more conservative than Western ones to begin with, but in addition to that, giving credit cards to foreigners is a significant risk. Many foreigners are only in Japan for a short time, a year or two, and some skip out on their bills when it's time to return to their home country. As you can imagine, most banks don't want to be left with unpaid maxed out credit cards, so they forgo the risk and just deny foreigners altogether. I wasn't able to get a credit card for a while too, but now that I've been in Japan for about 10 years, am married to a Japanese woman, and have a full-time job at university, banks view me as less of a risk and I've been able to pick up two cards.

[seklarwia]

Could you not apply for a visa debit card instead? I use a visa debit card on japanese sites without a problem. Maybe that is something you should look into if you are having issues getting a credit card.

[kitano]

I got one by joining a gym. The gym fee goes through the card and they probably get a kickback from the card company so they are easy to get. Then you have a Japanese credit history and it is easier to get one from your bank, although the gym one are fine. Also the transport companies have cards that are easy to get, Stacia and Pitapa in Kansai, not sure what they are called in other regions.

[chinagirl]

Try SAISON. I had no problem getting a card from them.

[Inflames]

Once, when I was new to Japan, I asked one of my friends for help in applying for a credit card, and he explained some things to me. Not having a home phone and recently changing jobs are negatives. I also got told to submit my health insurance card, not my gaijin card (something I now do out of habit anyways - they don't need all that information). I actually do have a Japanese American Express card (in addition to my American one) and a Pitapa card (which you actually can get with a deposit).

But the credit system here is generally stacked against foreigners. Most foreigners aren't seishain and will change jobs or move every few years, which knocks them lower a few notches on the credit card scale (less stable and checking that haken/arubaito/keiyaku shain box)

[tsunatuna]

If a VISA debit card is enough and you'd also like to have free online banking at the same time, I'd recommend ebank.
No problem at all for foreigners!

Well, the website and all the navigation is in Japanese only, though. I don't know how good your Japanese is, but I'd say it's worth a try

[slodziak]

I applied twice with Mitsui Sumitomo and was rejected. Both times I had taken an application form from the branch and sent it off.
Then someone recommended I actually get someone from the branch to fill out the form for me. I did this. And I got the card no problem. Maybe worth a try.

[spidr245]

Now kind of related to this, then are we saying that American credit cards aren't really accepted in Japan? That would be one of the main concerns until you get a Japanese one.

[seklarwia]

If your American credit card is a VISA card then it can be used in over here. I haven't seen any Maestro signs in shops or on ATMs. There are a few other logos shown but I don't recognise them.

In general its not a case of American cards not being accepted over here... more that cards are not really used, period.

You need to remember that Japan is still a cash society. Back home we use cards for everything from the weekly shop to buying a packet of cigs at the newsagents. In Japan, many places don't take cards at all yet alone foreign cards. I most certainly have never been to a restaurant that accepted cards (something that is unheard of in the UK).

I guess your main concern with using your credit card from back home is going to be:

1) How will you organise payment of your credit bills back home?
2) How much will you be charged for overseas use? and...
3) What are the cash advance charges, since apart from using them online, you will have to withdraw cash against them rather than using them directly in stores in most cases.

[fhsieh]

I've had almost no problems using American credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, and Amex) at places where one would expect credit cards to be accepted, like department stores, malls, grocery store chains, the Shinkansen, paying cellphone/internet bill (but not gas/water/electricity!), etc. There have been only a handful of stores that didn't accept one card type or another, and so far none that have rejected point-of-sale credit card payment due to my CCs being non-Japanese.

But with that said, I do use my cards sparingly because of foreign fees associated and because the purchasing-power-in-dollars just isn't what it used to be a few years ago. And most of your day-to-day stores will only deal in cash. I actually have been to a number of restaurants that do accept cards, but they're usually either in very urban/tourist areas or simply relatively expensive, so you can't really expect to be going to them on a daily basis.

I do all of my banking online, so I'm able to pay all of my credit card bills directly from my bank account without having to worry about snailmail or checks. Plus online statements are updated daily so I can keep track of them and more quickly spot any odd charges, rather than having to wait until the end of the billing cycle to receive a paper statement.