Cashless challenge in Tokyo

If you have been living in Tokyo for a while, I imagine the title of this post might have caught your attention. For those who don't know, Japan remains a heavily cash based economy. Before I moved here, I never thought this will be case. After all, Japan is often romanticised as a technologically savvy futuristic land, I mean, they have toilets that clean and dry your butt! But nope, in Japan, cash-based transactions are the norm.

In London, I could go a month or longer without carrying any cash at all. Some of the times I would need the cash it was to buying lunch from a cafe near the office (in Covent Garden, Central London) that was super cheap but would give you huge portions. That was the only cafe I knew in the area that didn't take cards. Other that that, I could get by by carrying just my iPhone and using Apple Pay.

Take the bus, tube, taxi? Tap

Buy a coffee from Pret? Tap

Shopping for clothes or groceries? Tap

Beer or cocktail from the bar? Tap, tap tap

Unfortunately for those used to Apple Pay, in Tokyo there are only a few places that will accept it and while the number is slowly increasing, Samsung and Android smart phones are more popular in the Asian countries.

The first time I came to Japan on holidays, I learn the hard way to make sure to have plenty of cash on my at all times. While having more than £20 on me would make me feel like I was carrying a neon sign on my forehead that would attack pickpockets, here people find it normal to have a minimum of 30,000 yen in the wallet (around £200/$300).

First reason is that banks don't have debit cards, a few banks are only starting implementing these. They will only provide you with a cash card which as a total shock for me when I opened my Shinsei bank account. How do I pay for my online shopping? I thought. Luckily, the bank staff was quick to offer me GAICA prepaid Visa card which is linked to the account and can be loaded a any time.

The daily withdrawal limit set on my Shinsei cash card? 500,000 yen which can be increased to 2,000,000 yen. My first thought was: who needs to carry over £3,000 let alone £15K? Well, it's not unusual for people to pay their rent in cash every month or paying the 5 months worth of rent you need prior to move into your new apartment. Yeah, you read correctly, it can be even 5 months (1-2 months deposit, key money -aka free gift to the landlord-, 1 month in advance, etc.) but that would be another post.

With 2020 Tokyo Olympics around the corner which the Japanese government expect to have 40 million tourists, they want to make 40% of payments “cashless” by 2025 to help them adapt more easily. When I read about it online, my facial expression was something like this emoticon 🤨

Then I started looking into options and was surprised to find that they are actually many options to reduce the amount of cash you have to carry. The problem? There are way to many and they are linked to certain shops so depending on your shopping habits, you'll benefit for certain options.

In UK I used these 3 options:

Apple Pay

Contactless debit or credit card

Debit or credit card

Of course, there was the Oyster card for the tube, bus, etc. and also digital payments available such as Qkr! app in Wagamama where you pay at the table so there was no need to ask for the bill, wait for it, pay, wait for the receipt or change, etc. I think I used it once because they offer a £5 discount if paying via the app but the waiters are always quick to bring the card reader to the table and you're only a tap away before leaving so I didn't really see the benefit of it.

In Japan? Still discovering more and more options. The options would probably double if I could read Japanese when doing online research.

When you walk into a store, you might see something like this at the door:

Japan Cashless Payments Map by Crowd Cast

Forget about the little sticker showing the logos for Visa, MasterCard and American Express at Tesco's.

So I've decided to use as many of the options above as possible to find out what works best and let you know the outcome.

So far, I have used: Suica, Pasmo, Nanaco, Waon, PayPay, VISA (UK's and Japanese), Mastercard (UK) and Amex (UK). Tried LINE Pay and Alipay but wasn't able to pay for what I wanted at the time.

Transport Prepaid

Japan started using IC cards, short for Integrated Circuit card, over 20 years ago. They are prepaid cards that can be loaded with cash only (there are exceptions to follow) then simply waive them when going through the gates and you’re done.

Popular ones are Suica and Pasmo that like the Oyster card in London gives you the freedom to take the public transport without having to calculate the fare beforehand. However, these cards not only can be used to take the train or bus but also to pay at the convenience store, supermarket, restaurant or vending machines. Much like using your contactless debit or credit card in your home country.

Cards (Debit/Credit/Prepaid)

Now, if you say the words contactless, (Mastercard) PayPass or (Visa) PayWave (contactless Japanese cards will show one of the last two) to the clerk, high chance of getting a weird look, even if you show those same words printed on your card next to the contactless logo then point at their machine reader. They'll do a double take but won't be able to process. As soon as they see the bank card, they will want to swipe it or ask you to insert the card on the chip reader.

Noooo! It's contact-less! I just want to waive it at the reader!

More payment options coming soon...

#cashless #creditcard #contactless #ICcard