Notes on applying for a credit card in Japan
It is hard to get a credit card as a foreigner in Japan.
Applying for credit cards will take a lot more work than you're used to. Credit card companies are afraid foreigners will leave without paying their bills (which does happen).
So you just have to keep applying until one of them accepts you. Be sure to keep your credit cards from back home active in the mean time.
Tips
- How much time you have on your visa is a big factor. Apply for credit cards the moment you get a new residence card.
- You can't predict which credit card company will accept you, no matter how "easy" the internet says they are. It's random, so just accept you may have to apply to a lot.
- Apply to Amazon's credit card.
- Applying to credit cards of foreign origin, like American Express, may be a little more user-friendly.
- Many credit card companies covertly discriminate against foreigners. For instance, not having a middle name field in their application form, and limiting the length of names to seven characters. Just ignore them and move on to the next one.
- Credit card travel insurance is worth little. The insurance limits are very low; only standalone travel insurance from a good insurer is effective.
- "Points" are a big thing in Japan. Most credit cards will offer at least 1% in points, which means you'll get 1 yen back for each 100 yen you spend.
- It is easy to get a prepaid card. You can use one of these for a local credit card number, while you're hoping for one of your credit card applications to succeed. Some examples are here.
- Some banks issue a debit card, e.g. Prestia. But typically, banks only give you a cash card to start with (which only lets you withdraw from ATMs). You may have to apply separately for a debit card.
- If you keep getting rejected, you can apply for a disclosure of your credit information from JICC. You can check if there's any problems with your credit record.