Some notes on iPhone Suica card usage

I thought I’d report on some quirks with using a Suica card with an iPhone (and Apple Watch) during my most recent trip to Japan.

One is that you can’t add *any* arbitrary amount to your Suica card via Apple Pay; there appears to be some minimum amount and it’s higher than 3000 yen but lower than 5000 yen.

What’s frustrating is that when you try to add 3000 yen via Apple Pay, the transaction *looks* like it’s going through; your credit card will get an authorization, the Suica Card will say please wait, then about 5 minutes later you will get a notification in Japanese that says “a problem has occurred, please try again later.” This error message is unfortunately not correct an unhelpful; if you try again later, it will do the exact same thing. It really should tell you something more useful, like what the minimum amount you need to spend is. I found you can add 5000 yen and 10000 yen, no problem!

So what do you do when you’re near the end of your trip, but you need more on your Suica card but less than 5000 yen? You can add smaller amounts in cash at an IC-recharge machine at many subways, but *not all of them* will work!

Here is a photo to show you the difference:

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The machine on the left is much more common; it’s found everywhere and can be used to add money to *physical* Suica cards. However, it will not work with your iPhone or Apple Watch.

The machine on the right *will* work, but it’s much harder to find. Notice the white arrow I drew pointing at the slot in the left; you’re supposed to put your phone in there when it asks you to on the screen. Thankfully the machines have a button that will give you instructions in English. One warning; if you’ve moved your Suica Card to your Apple Watch, you need to put your whole hand and wrist in the slot and *hold it extra still* while you complete the transaction with your other hand, including feeding paper bills an coins in! This is not an easy feat to accomplish, and you can’t take your watch off to do this.

You *can* transfer your Suica card from your Apple Watch to your iPhone and vice-versa, but it is not an instant process. When I do it, from start to finish it takes about 8 minutes. So don’t try to do this while waiting around the machine; do it at your hotel first before you head out.

In all other ways using a Suica Card on your Apple Watch is a real joy and time saver; you don’t have to worry about losing a card, and the reader can read your watch through very thick jackets. It’s super-convenient, and it’s accepted all over the place as payment!