Up until last year, I had been using my credit card from back home in the Philippines and sending payments every month. Not only was this a hassle, but I also realized I was missing out on many benefits of having a Japanese credit card. That was when I decided to apply for one from Rakuten. If you are in the same situation or just considering getting a Rakuten credit card, this guide is for you.

Why Rakuten?

Reason 1: Ease of Application

As a foreigner, getting a Rakuten card is often considered the easiest Japanese credit card to obtain in terms of the screening process. So easy, in fact, that people often joke you could apply as anyone—even as a sniper—and still pass. The application procedure is also fairly simple.

You can do it entirely online, eliminating the need for long queues at the bank and struggling to converse in Japanese. This also removes the requirement of having a legal stamp or はんこ, commonly needed for banking procedures in Japan.

Reason 2: Practical Rewards

Just for successfully applying for a Rakuten credit card, you instantly get 5,000 free Rakuten points. Each point is equivalent to 1 yen, and Rakuten is prolific in Japan, so you can use these points for shopping on their app, eating at McDonald’s, purchasing gadgets at Bic Camera, and many other things. Most people opt for the basic, no-annual-fee card (more on the card types later), so there are no hidden charges deducted from those 5,000 points. During campaign periods, they may even offer more points for signing up. Happy shopping, indeed.

Your Rakuten card will also double as a point card. As mentioned, Rakuten is everywhere, meaning more chances for you to collect points, which you can later use as good as cash. Facilities that accept Rakuten point cards include convenience stores, lifestyle brands, fashion shops, and fast-food restaurants. Pictured below are just some of their partners. For a complete list, you may visit this page.

For any ¥100 purchase from these stores, you get 1 Rakuten point (#freemoney). In addition, you can also use your accumulated points for services offered by the Rakuten Group, which includes Rakuten Travel, Rakuten Ticket, and Rakuten Net Supermarket.

1. Rakuten Travel: Book discounted tickets, accommodation, and vacation packages for domestic and international travels.
2. Rakuten Ticket: Use your points to purchase tickets for events like concerts, Disney shows, sports tournaments, and more.
3. Rakuten Net Supermarket: In partnership with the supermarket Seiyu, this lets you take care of your grocery shopping using just your phone.

Reason 3: Quick Processing

Most credit card applications in Japan take up to three weeks to process. Rakuten, on the other hand, places importance on having the card delivered to you within a week.

Rakuten Credit Card Types

Rakuten offers many kinds of cards. Today, I’m going to introduce the three basic credit cards offered for first-time applicants.

1. Rakuten Basic Card (楽天カード): With no annual fee, this is the most popular Rakuten card. It is already equipped with Rakuten point capacity, and you may also choose to use it for collecting Edy points. With this card, you get 1 point per ¥100 purchase at partner stores and up to three times the points when shopping using Rakuten Ichiba (楽天市場).
2. Rakuten Pink Card (楽天ピンクカード): This card is similar to the basic card but is geared toward female users. It is customizable with cute designs, and using this card would additionally give you access to Rakuten options and services created for women.
3. Rakuten Gold Card (楽天ゴールドカード): This card has an annual fee of ¥2,200 yen. For that, you get the benefit of staying at domestic airport lounges twice a year for free, as well as higher options for your credit limit. It also avails you of up to five times the points when using Rakuten Ichiba. For those who drive often, it is worth noting that the Gold card also waives the annual ETC card fee.

For more information on other Rakuten cards, you can check out this page, although it is in Japanese.

Step-by-Step Online Application Procedure for Getting a Rakuten Credit Card

I hope by now you’re convinced that getting a Rakuten card is not only easy but also beneficial. So, let’s talk about getting you one.

Oh, and if you prefer watching a video than reading a blog, you can simply watch my YouTube video attached below!

Step 1: Create a Rakuten Account

Rakuten Card is just one of the services offered by Rakuten, mainly an E-commerce site. To avail of the service, you would need to sign up for a Rakuten account. Don’t worry, this is a quick process that you can do in English. Just click on this link.

If you already have a Rakuten account, you may skip this step.

Step 2: Access Rakuten’s Official Website

Click here to start your application. They regularly change the layout and contents of this page. Right now, there is a big 10,000 printed in the middle, reflecting the number of points you will get for signing up during their ongoing campaign.

The present layout places two buttons at the bottom—one red and one green. The red one is for those who already have a Rakuten account, and the green one is for those who don’t. Since you are a registered member, click on the red button.

You will be asked to provide additional information about yourself on the next page. This will still be in English and focuses mostly on your address and contact information. You can automatically go to that page by clicking below.

Once you’re done, you will then be asked to choose which card you would like to apply for. Click on the red お申し込みへ button below the card of your choice to begin your application.

Step 3: Fill Out the First Page of the Application Form

The first page of the application will ask you to enter basic information (基本情報の入力).

1. Choose your card’s brand.
2. Choose the design of your credit card. Note that the number of design options changes based on the brand you choose.
3. Enter your name. For the first two lines, you will have to type your name in Hiragana. For 性 or せい on the left side, put in your last name. For 名 or めい on the right side, your first name. The last line is for you to enter your name in Romaji. The system will try to guess your Romaji name based on the Hiragana you entered, but if it is not right, you can simply delete it and key in the correct one.
4. Choose your sex. 男 on the left stands for ‘male’ and 女 on the right is for ‘female’.
5. Enter your birthday. The first box is for the year, followed by the month and then the day. Applicants below 18 years old will not be accepted.
6. Enter your phone number(s). If you have a landline, enter your landline number on the first line and your mobile number on the second line. If you only have a cell phone, only fill in the first line. They may use this information to contact you about your application.
7. Enter your email address. The second field asks for your smartphone email address and may be left blank.
8. Choose whether to receive updates about your Rakuten Card and Rakuten Point Card. Opting to receive updates will get you 50 points upon joining.
9. Enter your address. Start by providing your postal code. From there, a pop-up will prompt you to choose your Chome. On the third line, type the rest of your address (building name, room number, etc.). The 2nd and 4th fields are for the Furigana of the address you provided and will be automatically filled in by the system.
10. Provide information about your family. The drop-down will give you options such as married with kids (配偶者有子供有), married with no kids (配偶者有子供無), not married with children (配偶者無子供有), single and not living with family (独身家族別居), single and living with family (独身家族同居).
11. Provide information about your household. Click on how many, including yourself, live in the same household. If you live alone, choose 1.
12. Provide information about where you live. The drop-down options include house owned by you (持家 自己所有), house owned by spouse (持家 配偶者所有), house owned by someone other than spouse (持家 配偶者以外所有), rented mansion (家賃マンション), apartment (アパート), rented house (借家), company housing (社宅), dormitory (寮), boarding house (下宿), other (その他).
13. Indicate how long you have been living in your current residence.
14. Answer whether you are paying either rent or a housing loan. 支払いあり on the left if you are and 支払いなし on the right if you are not.
15. Choose your employment status. From top to bottom, choices are employed (お勤めの方), student (学生の方), pensioner (年金受給の方), unemployed (お勤めされてないの方).

• Once you’ve made your choice, another field—ご本人様税込年収—will come up. This asks for your yearly taxable income. Note that if you chose ‘student’, you will first be asked whether or not you have income. If you answer ‘yes’, then you will be asked to enter the amount.
• If you have indicated that you are married, you will also be asked whether you could provide your spouse’s yearly income (申告する for ‘yes’ and 申告しない for ‘no’). If you choose to do so, enter your spouse’s yearly income under 配偶者様税込年収. Note that the amount should already be in 万. If you are not very familiar with this unit, just think of it as four zeros in the western counting system.
• You will also be asked to provide your entire household’s yearly income under 世帯年収. The amount here should be in 万 as well.

16. Click on how much you currently have in savings. Listed choices from the top are: more than 3 million yen (300万円以上), 2 million to 2.99 million yen (200万−299万), 1 million to 1.99 million yen (100万−199万), 500 thousand to 990 thousand yen (50万−99万), 100 thousand to 490 thousand yen (10万ー99万), none (なし), will not tell (申告しない).
17. Choose whether you want to have your bill delivered at home (自宅) or at the office (業務先).
18. Click on the reason why you would like to have a Rakuten card. The one on the left, 普段のお買い物等に利用, means you want to use it for shopping. The other option, 現金のお借り入に等に利用, means that you want to use it to take out a loan. You are allowed to choose both. Note that the company is less likely to grant your application if you say that your goal is to get a loan unless you have very reliable credentials.

• For 楽天カードBESTレコメンド, check 申し込む if you want to receive email recommendations from Rakuten (which could be a lot of annoying messages) and 申し込まない if you don’t.
• Next, check the box on the left if you want to avail of Revolving Payment (自動リボサービス申し込み). Revolving Payment is an option offered by Rakuten that lets you pay only a set amount each month, even if you used more than that amount. This has an interest rate of 15%, so be cautious about your choice. If you do opt to enjoy this service, you will then be asked to set the amount on another pop-up field.
• Card Cashing Service (カードのキャッシング枠) lets you withdraw cash using your Rakuten credit card and this field asks you to choose the withdrawal limit. Again, the amounts are in 万円. The lesser the amount you set, the faster it would be for Rakuten to process your application. I, for one, chose ０万円.

19. Indicate whether you have any outstanding loan from other companies. あり on the left if you do and なし on the right if you don’t.

• For married individuals, you will also be asked if your spouse has a shopping debt (配偶者様のショッピングのお借り入れ金額). あり if your spouse has one and なし if he/she doesn’t.
• Another option that would be offered is for a Family Card (家族カード), which is just an extra card that you can use for your family’s expenses. The yearly fee for this card is waived. Additionally, there’s the ETC Card (ETCカード), a Japanese toll card that you could pay for 550円 per year. For both fields, 申し込む is for ‘yes’ and 申し込まない for ‘no’.

20. If you wish to have Edy function on your card, choose 希望する, and if you don’t, choose 希望しない.
21. If you chose 希望しない above, you can skip this part. This asks you to set the auto-charge options for your Edy. Choose 申し込む if you want auto-charge. Then, set the details that follow. The first line asks for ‘when’ you want to be auto-charged (when your Edy balance goes below the amount you choose), the next one is for the amount you want to be auto-charged, and the last one asks you to set the daily maximum amount.
22. Choose 受け取る if you want to receive email notifications from Rakuten Edy and 受け取らない if you don’t. Speaking from experience, these notifications can get annoying.
23. Choose the bank account you wish to use for payments. If you would rather do this step through writing, click 郵便で口座設定手続き at the bottom of the choices, and Rakuten will mail the paperwork to your address.
24. Choose a PIN number for your card and enter it twice.
25. Click on the button to proceed to the next step of the application.

Step 4: Connect Your Bank Account

If you chose to link your bank account through mailed documents (Step 2, field number 1.23), this step will automatically be skipped.

1. Enter the branch number where you opened your bank account. This information is usually located on your cash card and the documents given to you by the bank when you opened your account.
2. Enter your bank account number.
3. Click on the button to proceed to the review of your bank information.
4. Once you’ve confirmed that all the bank information you have provided is accurate, click on the button. This will most likely bring you to a third-party site (your bank’s) where you will be asked to finish the linking process. What you should do next depends on the financial institution you belong to, but it should be easy to go through as long as you have all your bank details.
5. When you are done linking your bank account, you will be brought to a page containing all the information you have provided. Check and confirm that everything is correct, then click the button.
6. To complete your application, click on the button. Congratulations! You are done applying for your credit card!

For those who chose not to link their bank account online, also check boxes 3.4 and 3.5. Rakuten will soon after send you papers asking for your bank information. Once you’ve completed and mailed those back to Rakuten, you also get to proceed to the next step.

Step 5: Wait for Rakuten to Call to Check Your Identity

Shortly after applying, you will receive an email from Rakuten letting you know that they have received your request for a credit card and that they might be contacting you in a couple of days to verify some information. During the call, they asked me some basic information such as my name and phone number.

Step 6: Receive Your Rakuten Credit Card

Hurray! A few more days after the identity check, you will receive your card by mail. Since it is an important document, you should be there to receive the card in person.

Shop in Japan with Ease Using Your Rakuten Credit Card

Obtaining a Rakuten credit card as a foreigner in Japan is a smart move for those looking to simplify their financial management and maximize their benefits. The ease of application, coupled with the substantial rewards and quick processing time, makes getting a Rakuten card an attractive option.

By following these steps, you will find that getting a Rakuten card is a straightforward process that offers numerous benefits for foreigners living in Japan. Enjoy the convenience and rewards that come with your new Rakuten credit card!

Looking for more useful banking-related tips for living in Japan? How about checking out my very detailed guides on how to do a bank transfer in Japan?