Apple Pay Japan Cards

Intro: Don’t Say Apple Pay
Japan has the longest history of mobile payments on a large scale thanks to the early cooperation of NTT DOCOMO and Sony to create Mobile FeliCa and the Osaifu Keitai mobile payment platform adopted by all Japanese carriers. This standard was in place 10 years for contactless credit card use before the EMV contactless standard for credit cards came together that was the basis for Apple Pay in 2014. The pre-EMV Mobile FeliCa contactless standard means the Japanese mobile payments landscape has a lot more payment options than anywhere else.

Inbound Apple Pay Payment Cards
Q. Do credit-debit-prepaid payment cards issued in other countries work with Apple Pay in Japan?
A. Yes. EMV touch payment options are pretty much standard but Japanese issue cards generally have the widest Apple Pay support in Japan. Payment cards issued in other countries only use EMV NFC and do not support FeliCa NFC based QUICPay, iD and Suica•PASMO•Transit IC payment networks.

Work around any limitations by using Apple Pay cards from home with the Apple Pay Japan payment network leveraging the power of Apple Pay global NFC by adding Suica to Wallet (any model iPhone XS/XR or later with iOS 17.2 or later • Apple Watch Series 3 or later) and add money to Suica with your Apple Pay payment cards from home. This is highly recommended as having both EMV and FeliCa cards in Apple Pay gives you the most payment flexibility. Apple Pay Suica works nationwide for transit and store purchases, anywhere, anytime. You can also add nanaco and WAON e-Money cards.

Check the payment logos and don’t say ‘Apple Pay’
Support for Apple Pay EMV contactless payment cards is pretty much standard. The challenge is knowing what works before checkout. Always check the payment acceptance marks to find out what works at checkout…and remember: the EMV logo on the reader device tap area is only the physical compatibility mark that indicates the NFC antenna location, it does not mean the store accepts EMV contactless payments. When you see any of the Visa-Mastercard-Amex contactless acceptance logos like the payment terminal shown below, your corresponding Apple Pay cards from home are good for payment.

The important thing is don’t say ‘Apple Pay‘, tell the checkout staff you want to pay saying “credit” or “touch“.

Dual mode NFC reader, note the acceptance logos for Visa and Mastercard contactless, the EMV reader logo on the tap area does not always mean the store accepts EMV contactless. Always check the store payment acceptance logos.

Apple Pay Japan Cards

Major Japanese plastic issue credit and debit cards on Apple Pay listed on the Kanzen Card site can be used at stores displaying payment acceptance logos at checkout, simply look for the matching logos on your card in Wallet and let the cashier know if you’re paying by ‘touch’ credit/debit (VISA, Mastercard, AMEX, JCB) card, Suica, iD, QUICPay, WAON or nanaco. To use a Suica card that’s set as your Express Mode card, simply hold the top of your iPhone near the reader.

The complete Apple Pay Japan list covering local bank card issue is on the Apple Pay Support Page.

Debit cards
There are 2 types of debit cards.
-Dual EMV + FeliCa mode debit cards: Sumisho SBI NeoBank (Mastercard • iD), SMBC Olive (VISA • iD)
-EMV mode only debit cards: Revolut, Sony Bank WALLET and MUFJ Debit

Digital and plastic prepaid cards
Apple Pay Japan supports au Wallet Prepaid and Docomo d Card Prepaid plastic issue cards for adding to Apple Pay Wallet. There are also instant Wallet issue digital only prepaid cards via 3rd party apps: Toyoto Wallet (iD + Mastercard or QUICPay + JCB), Line Pay (iD + VISA) , T-MONEY (iD + Matercard), SMBC V Point Prepaid (iD + VISA). Like digital only debit Apple Pay cards, digital only prepaid cards require an app account and can only be added to Wallet with their respective app.

e-Money cards
Apple Pay WAON and Apple Pay nanaco e-Money cards joined the Apple Pay Japan lineup October 21, 2021. Wallet supports direct creating and transferring WAON and nanaco cards. WAON and nanaco require iPhone 8 or later running iOS 15, Apple Watch 3 or later running watchOS 8 and Apple ID set up for two-factor authentication. See the Apple Support page for adding eMoney cards to Wallet.

Outbound Tips
If you work and live in Japan and plan to use Apple Pay regularly, rearrange your credit/debit card collection to fit your needs:

  1. Apple Pay Suica Users
    If you are a daily Suica commuter, sign up for the Bic Camera JCB VIEW Card and link it with a Bic Camera Point Card number. Next, get a JRE POINT Card and setup an JRE POINT account to tie Suica, VIEW Card and JRE POINT together into one supercharged point package. You will quickly rack up substantial JRE POINT and Bic Camera Store points just by using and recharging Apple Pay Suica with View Card and using VIEW for credit card purchases.
  2. Outbound Apple Pay
    You can use a Japanese issue cards for domestic and international Apple Pay, Docomo d Card Mastercard is a good choice for Docomo customers with a low annual fee. Mastercard issue cards from au Wallet, TS Cubic and JACCS are also good options.

Mastercard is a good overall choice for Japanese issue cards. Mastercard gives you the best foreign exchange rates when traveling abroad, and Mastercard has robust dual mode (EMV/FeliCa) Apple Pay support for seamless use in Japan and abroad.

Updated: 2025-09-07

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