Apple Pay Suica • PASMO • ICOCA Recharge Guide

Notice: The VISA payment network is blocking foreign issue VISA credit cards for Apple Pay In-App use with Suica, PASMO, ICOCA. Apple Pay Wallet users cannot add or recharge Suica, PASMO, and ICOCA cards with foreign issue VISA credit cards, attempts to add money to the card in Wallet result in a ‘Payment Not Completed’ error shown below:

The issue has been ongoing since early August 2022. Use Mastercard, AMEX credit cards, UnionPay credit cards for adding money to Apple Pay Suica, PASMO, ICOCA in Wallet app. More foreign issue credit and debit cards work for Apple Pay Suica than PASMO or ICOCA. Here’s the current situation based on online user feedback:

Non-JP VISA: credit cards are blocked by VISA for adding money to Suica, PASMO, ICOCA. Some credit cards may work sporadically but only temporarily. Some VISA debit cards work for adding money to Suica: DKB, Hyundai Zero, ANZ. Boursorama, Revolut and WISE work depending on the country of the account, no other issuers confirmed though more seem to be working over time.
Non-JP Mastercard: cards work for adding money to Suica, some credit cards are not working for PASMO depending on the issuer. Some debit cards may be limited by the ATM withdrawal limit. Mastercard is not currently working for adding money to ICOCA.
Non-JP AMEX: cards work for adding money to Suica, PASMO, ICOCA.
UnionPay: cards work for adding money to Suica, PASMO, ICOCA.

Pass-through workaround option for inbound VISA card users from EU • UK (VISA credit and debit), US (VISA debit only): link VISA with a Curve Mastercard added to Apple Pay Wallet to add money to Suica indirectly with VISA.

New developments will be posted to this page, feedback from users is much appreciated.

Updated 2023-09-22 JST

These are 2 basic ways to recharge (add money, reload, top-up, charge) to Apple Pay Suica • PASMO • ICOCA:
1) Apple Pay Recharge in Wallet
2) Cash Recharge with JPY bills
Suica • PASMO • ICOCA can hold up to ¥20,000

Apple Pay Recharge
The easiest way to add money to Suica • PASMO • ICOCA is Apple Pay Wallet. It’s the single most powerful, convenient and unique feature of Apple Pay in 4 simple steps:

  • Open Wallet
  • Select Suica • PASMO • ICOCA
  • Tap “Add Money” and choose amount
  • Pay with Apple Pay: select an In-App eligible payment card to pay, most Apple Pay credit-debit-prepaid payment cards already in Wallet issued in your home country work for Suica • PASMO • ICOCA Recharge*
Add Money
Add Money
Choose Amount
Choose Amount
Pay with Apple Pay
Pay with Apple Pay
Check status, when Updating Cards finishes and the Balance updates Suica•PASMO is ready to go
Check status, when Updating Cards finishes and the Balance updates Suica•PASMO is ready to go

Research can save you money and earn bonus points such as using a “No Foreign Transaction Fee” Apple Pay credit card to save on foreign exchange fees. Some cards also give travel bonus points with a recharge. Find the optimum card configuration and you’ll make your money do more.

Be aware that Apple Pay Recharge is not available during Mobile Suica•Mobile PASMO•Mobile ICOCA nightly system maintenance from 2:00 am to 4:00 am JST.

Cash Recharge
Suica • PASMO • ICOCA can be recharged without a network connection using ¥1,000, ¥5,000, ¥10,000 bills and is available any time.

  • Any station smart-recharge kiosk: available in Tokyo and Osaka area train and metro stations shown in the pictures and video below. Place iPhone or Apple Watch (take off the wrist) in the reader bin or on the flat reader area depending on the kiosk type, select ¥1,000, ¥5,000 or ¥10,000 amount you want to add on the touch screen and feed bills to start the process. The blue bin/reader flashes red while the kiosk recharges the card, then turns blue again when done. You also get a notification on your device. Some smart-recharge kiosks in non-JR East stations also have a coin slot for adding a pre-selected coin amount.
  • Any Seven Bank ATM: not as fast or convenient as station smart-charge kiosks but Seven Bank ATMs are plentiful, nationwide and open 24/7. They are even placed in station areas.
  • Any convenience store checkout: Go to the checkout at any convenience or station store like NewDays, tell the store clerk Suica • PASMO • ICOCA “charge” and follow the checkout screen instructions as shown in video below.

If you have multiple Suica • PASMO • ICOCA cards in Wallet, the Express Mode set card is the recharge default when iPhone is placed in a bin or on a reader. To recharge a Suica • PASMO • ICOCA not set for Express Mode, put the card in Service Mode before starting the recharge process.

Cash recharge is available at any time regardless of nightly Mobile Suica/Mobile PASMO/Mobile ICOCA system maintenance.

Suica Charge Kiosk at JR station
Recharge with cash at any convenience store or the new smart-charge kiosks at JR and PASMO stations, language options are on the touchscreen. Here is a JR East smart-recharge bin type
Smart-recharge flat reader type at a PASMO station (Metro, etc.)

Recharge Troubleshooting
The most important thing about Apple Pay recharge is making sure you have a robust network connection.

  • Apple Pay Recharge requires a good network connection, if free WiFi and auto connect carrier WiFi connections are unreliable (often the case), use 4G/5G instead.
  • The Apple Pay ‘ding’ and ‘Done’ notification does not mean Apple Pay Recharge is completed. Check card status: when the ‘Updating Card’ alert disappears and the Balance updates, Suica • PASMO • ICOCA is ready to go. If the recharge process seems stuck because of a poor network connection, cancel the recharge by clicking the sleep button and try again when you have a better connection. If you make many failed recharge attempts, you will see the failed recharges on your credit or debit card but not on the card balance. Do not panic: these are temporary charges that are not processed and automatically removed by the Mobile Suica/PASMO/ICOCA system within 24 hours during the nightly system maintenance period. Depending on your bank, the temporary charges on your card are erased after a certain period of time. More Recharge hang troubleshooting here.
  • *Cards that do not support In-App payments cannot be used for recharge. Use another card: check the Apple Pay Choose Card screen and confirm that your bank payment card supports In-app payments. If not, choose another Apple Pay card in the Choose Card screen.
  • Apple Pay Enhanced Fraud Prevention. If your card is declined either at the payment terminal or In-App Suica • PASMO • ICOCA recharge: check with your card issuer bank as Apple Pay Enhanced Fraud Prevention may be causing them to decline payment based on Apple Pay attempts when traveling outside of your home country. From Apple: For cards with certain enhanced fraud prevention features, when you attempt an online or in-app transaction, your device will evaluate information about your Apple ID, device and location (if you have enabled Location Services) to develop fraud prevention assessments, which are used by Apple to identify and prevent fraud. Apple will share the fraud prevention assessments as well as information about your transaction (such as purchase amount, currency and date) with your payment card network for fraud prevention.
Check payment card eligibility in the Apple Pay Choose Card pop-up window

Support

Always use the latest iOS and watchOS and make sure your device has a robust network connection.

Mobile Suica/Mobile PASMO/Mobile ICOCA nightly system maintenance from 2:00 (am) to 4:00 (am) JST. Many functions are not available: adding cards, Apple Pay Recharge, using Suica • PASMO • ICOCA apps, suspending or removing cards from Find My iPhone and iCloud.com. Cash Recharge can be done at any time and is not affected by system maintenance.

Apple Pay Suica•PASMO support and general troubleshooting topics here

Updated 2023-08-05