Hello! I have lived in Japan on and off for almost 20 years but have never applied for a credit card. I would like to get one now, though, so start doing someone online transaction. Before I start wasting time applying for every offer I see, could I get some advice? What credit card is the easiest to go for a foreigner (3 year work visa and Japanese bank account.)? Thank you in advance!
7 comments
rakuten
I got a Rakuten card with no problem under similar circumstances.
The only other card I ever tried to apply for was from a department store (got insta-denied within 20 minutes on that one).
Rakuten
If you are a full-time seishain, not on a one-year contract, you should have little trouble for just about any card, bar having a middle name…
I have an irrational dislike of Rakuspam, so I’d recommend the one your bank offers instead, as hopefully you have had 20 trouble-free years with them.
I believe card applications do show up on your credit history for some period of time so you don’t want to just rapid-fire apply for every card around.
If you have a Costco membership (or if you would like to get one…) their card is generally pretty easy to get. Otherwise store cards like Yodobashi can be a good option, especially if you have an existing point card with a shopping history.
Amazon’s card is through SMBC which can be difficult.
Rakuten is hit & miss. Some people get one super easily, other people report all sorts of problems with name matching.
I tried rakuten card as mentioned by others but got denied. I then tried smbc and it just miraculously worked. Do not know why .
Rakuten. but if you have bank account like smbc, it is quite easy to get one from them also. For the record I got my part time salary on smbc for almost a year so maybe that helps.