The JAPAN CASHLESS Rebate Day 1: convenience stores

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It was a fun day. I tried out some local CASHLESS rebate stores and it was…boring. I paid with Apple Pay Suica like I always do. A close examination of the receipt showed that the 2% rebate was instantly deducted from the transaction amount. I didn’t have to say anything or do anything but wave iPhone to the reader.

That was not clear from the CASHLESS web site: When you make a cashless purchase with any of the certified methods (credit card, Suica, QR, etc.) at a convenience store, the consumption tax is automatically calculated at 8% or 10% depending on item (food vs. household items). The 2% rebate is instantly implemented in the transaction as a discount from the sub-total (items plus tax). For people who don’t want to bother with JRE POINT, paying with Apple Pay Suica at convenience stores is a JAPAN CASHLESS no brainer.

I am still digging but the instant 2% tax discount appears to be the case only for convenience store transactions. Other stores (without the fancy POS systems) calculate the transaction with tax but the CASHLESS rebate is refunded later as outlined.

It will be interesting to see how many stores end up being classified as ‘convenience stores’ for the CASHLESS program as supermarkets are explicitly left out of the the equation. All the major convenience store chains will be onboard, but will AEON ‘My Basket’ stores be classified as a convenience store or a supermarket? It’s a squishy line.

Some quick impressions:

• everything happens automatically on the backend, there is nothing the customer or merchant needs to do, just follow the usual routine
• if you pay cash at convenience stores you are throwing away money
• I can’t wait for the CASHLESS program to expand to DOUTOR so I can kiss Starbucks goodbye for the duration of the program
• Ditto for MiniStop, 7 Eleven ice coffee sucks and they don’t have those cheesy dog things

UPDATE: MiniStop is on the CASHLESS map now:

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