Apple Pay Japan added NTT Docomo’s Prepaid d CARD issued by Sumitomo Mitsu Bank to the lineup today along with the obligatory launch campaign: ¥1,000 for signing up plus another ¥500 for using it. Not bad.
This joins KDDI’s au Wallet as the 2nd prepaid card on Apple Pay Japan. Both d Card and au Wallet prepaid cards are under the Mastercard network and there are unconfirmed reports that au Wallet uses the NFC switching feature of iOS 11 and Mastercard Contactless with iPhone X, iPhone 8 and Apple Watch 3 for domestic and international Apple Pay use.
Sumitomo Mitsubishi Bank support states that d Card Prepaid can only be used by Apple Pay in Japan and Docomo has not yet added iPhone support to their iD/NFC overseas service. Prepaid cards have other limitations and cannot be used at gas stations, for monthly utility payments and the like, but are good for Apple Pay Suica Recharge.
au Wallet uses the QUICPay+ network which clearly lists the stores that accept it. d Card Prepaid uses the Docomo iD network which is less clear: you will not find a iD Prepaid logo at the checkout NFC reader. Sumitomo Mitsui d Card support lists limitations in Japanese.
Update
11-28-2017 : added more limitation details based on reader feedback
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