Apple Pay Suica • PASMO Recharge

Notice: Apple Pay Wallet In-App recharge using foreign issue VISA cards is not working for Suica and PASMO. The issue has been ongoing since early August. Use Mastercard or AMEX for adding money to Apple Pay Suica and PASMO in Wallet app. Online user feedback the past few months suggest the following:

Non-JP VISA: does not work for Suica or PASMO recharge
Non-JP Mastercard: works for Suica recharge, some work for PASMO recharge (Capital One MC started working for PASMO in January, others not confirmed)
Non-JP AMEX: all cards work for Suica and PASMO recharge

Some VISA cards worked sporadically in December and February, but so far there are no across the board solid changes. Any updates will be posted here. Feedback appreciated! Other recharge workarounds here.

(Updated 2023-03-20 JST)

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

Apple Pay Recharge
The easiest way to add money to Suica or PASMO 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 or PASMO
  • Tap “Add Money” and choose amount
  • Pay with Apple Pay: select the card you want to pay from to pay, the Apple Pay credit-debit-prepaid payment cards already in Wallet issued in your home country work for Suica•PASMO 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.

Cash Recharge
Suica-PASMO can be recharged without a network connection using ¥1,000, ¥5,000, ¥10,000 bills.

  • 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 7-Eleven ATM: not as fast or convenient as station smart-charge kiosks but 7-Eleven ATMs are plentiful, nationwide and open 24/7.
  • Any convenience store checkout: Go to the checkout at any convenience or station store, tell the store clerk Suica or PASMO “charge” and follow the checkout screen instructions as shown in video below.

If you have multiple Suica or PASMO 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 or PASMO not set for Express Mode, put the card in Service Mode before starting the recharge process.

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.
  • *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 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.
  • The Apple Pay ‘ka-ching’ sound and ‘Done’ mark does not mean Apple Pay recharge is completed. Check card status: when the ‘Updating Card’ alert disappears and the Balance updates, Suica•PASMO 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. More Recharge hang troubleshooting here.
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 Cloud Maintenance: from 12:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. JST daily many functionalities aren’t available, this includes adding cards, Apple Pay Recharge, using Suica•PASMO App, and suspending and removing cards from Find My iPhone and iCloud.com. Cash Recharge can be done at any time and is not affected by Cloud Maintenance.

Apple Pay Suica•PASMO support and general troubleshooting topics here