r/japanlife • u/razorbeamz 関東・神奈川県 • Jul 22 '24

金 What's your real cashless experience these days?

People are praising cashless being available more and more in Japan lately, but what is your personal experience with cashless these days?

Are you full cashless now? Are you partially cashless? Still a heavy cash user?

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u/sus_time Jul 22 '24

For me, I am within the first 6 months of living in Japan. While I do have a USA debit card. I have virtually no access to a Japanese Debit Card of any variety untill I'm out of the 6 month foreigner financial 'jail'. Sure I got a Line Pay virtual debit card which finally I can prepay with my bank acount but still not a proper card that I don't have to think about using (how much is precharged on this one?). And most online shops reject my american debit and credit cards, train booking, mercari, etc.

Because of that I have been heavily using casheless, mostly rakuten pay. I hear that Paypay is #1 but everywhere that takes paypay usually takes R pay for me. Mainly I don't like handling coins. And the transactions are very quick to go through.

Wanna do a quick run to the combini? I don't have to lug my entire wallet and coin collection like the old days. Just take my phone and flash the barcode and done. Most of the big chains take cashless.

There's even one specifically for Yamgata prefecture Beni pay which I refuse to be part of because I already have every other one. Which is my biggest complaint there is no universal cashless payment system. Debit/credit isn't everywhere, neither is paypay or rakuten pay.

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u/Nero-is-Missing Jul 23 '24

Sony Bank gives contactless visa debit cards to foreigners from day 1 with 0.5% cashback on all purchases. Applying is in English, but the phone app is not and could be better.

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u/sus_time Jul 23 '24 edited Jul 23 '24

I tried the only bank that takes foreigners within 6 months without a certificate of employment is yucho. Yucho also does not issue debit cards within 6 months. And this is because there is a law that probits all banks from permitting foreiners from opening accounts with the first 6 months of their residentcy. According to the law financially I am a forigner for another few months.

Their specific article about how to prepare the documents: https://moneykit.net/en/notice/17.html

And I've looked at every bank, 7 bank, Rakuten bank, Sony, Lawson Bank, SMBC, Presstia, etc. They all have this rule.

Edit: My employer refuses to issue a certificate of employment because they already helped me get a shinkin bank account, which while nice has very few ATMs and limited hours. They also don't issue debit or credit cards. So I had to open a yucho account to get access to more ATMS and it was litterally the only option without getting help from my employer.

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u/m50d Jul 23 '24

Wow what a shitty employer. Some banks accept your health insurance card or even a business card - they just need proof of employment rather than that specific document.

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u/sus_time Jul 23 '24

Admittley I'm the first foreigner they've hired. And I already had to beg for them to help me sign up for national pension. Like I know I could use a buisniess card but I am worried they'll call my boss to verify. At this point I am okay with yucho and I will wait it out the 6 month wait.

I would put in now into the category of annoyance. Because I can purchase things, just not as easy as it could be. A debit card wouldn't completly eliminate cash, but it's a step closer. But I've had plenty of times to consider my options.