Greetings lifers, as I’ve been in Japan for about 4 years now, I thought that this would be the year I decide to go and apply for a credit card. I’m having trouble finalizing on one specific one, and would love to hear personally which one you got as your first and the pros and cons you have faced. I’m leaning towards Amazon’s Master Card atm, but would love to hear input on either of these two or any others you might suggest. Thanks in advance 🤝🏼
7 comments
I was in a similar situation and got the Rakuten credit card this year.
generally you take the card that accepts you, not the other way around. that said, rakuten, Amazon, various cards you can apply at aeon mall etc are usually ok for first time application. if you get rejected, wait half a year before applying elsewhere or it’s gonna be a guaranteed deny. if you have docomo for mobile and have been paying it for a while on time, maybe try applying for their d-card at a shop in person.
If you have American Express credit card already from your home country, I think they offer conversion to another country easily [online](https://www.americanexpress.com/global-card-transfers/index.shtml).
Amazon cards are provided by SMBC. They are not a particularly easy card to get.
Rakuten and EPOS are widely considered to be the easiest “first cards” to apply for.
Some basic ground rules:
1. Only apply for one card at a time.
2. Do not spend too much time considering “which card” to get. For your first card, when you have no credit history, it’s much more about “getting a card” than exactly which one. So…Rakuten or EPOS.
3. If you get rejected, the rejection stays on your credit report for 6 months. Therefore do not apply for any other cards for at least 6.5 months after you receive a rejection.
4. Japan has three credit reporting agencies. You can get reports from at least two of them for a small charge. Poke around online. If you get rejected for Rakuten or EPOS, you might want to check your credit report to see if anything negative is there.
5. Obviously the more money you make, the bigger the company you work for, the longer you have lived in one place, etc, etc, etc all play roles in approval. Not everyone can get a card.
If you do any decent amount of shopping on Amazon, their card is the one to go with.
I got an Amazon card. It’s good to pay for things in Amazon, I think you get some extra points, nothing earth shattering.
Their website is normal by Japanese standards. It has an option to translate everything to English automatically, but it doesn’t work 😂
Line pay card has always treated me good, 1% back as line pay points, which you can basically use anywhere that takes line pay or paypay, so much closer to a genuine cashback.
Amazon is nice too and I got approved within minutes right after moving before my first job began, and the even give you a temp card to use on Amazon before your actual card arrives in the mail.
If you get unlucky and get rejected a lot, consider getting an account with revolut, in Japan they’ll give you a visa card, though granted this is p much pre paid.