House byline
Credit Cards correspondent
Yuki Sato is a house byline for InfoHandle’s Credit Cards desk.
JCB Co rolled out optional push alerts on its card app that ping cardholders when Visa and Mastercard reference rates move more than a set threshold, a product tweak aimed at overseas travelers facing a yen near eight-month lows.
Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS is cutting foreign ATM cash fees for select platinum cardholders traveling in Okinawa through December, a niche perk that highlights how issuers compete on holiday corridors when the weak yen makes overseas withdrawals costlier.
Mizuho Mileage Club capped partner-hotel point redemptions for the Sports Day weekend after demand surged on domestic ryokan packages, mirroring tighter award rules other issuers applied before October holidays.
AEON Card’s October promotion adds bonus V Points on domestic highway bus tickets booked through partner apps during the Sports Day travel window, with caps that reward contactless taps over phone-wallet reloads.
Sumitomo Mitsui Card’s October campaign pays extra V Points when shoppers convert Tokyo municipal points and pay with linked Visa contactless wallets.
Updated FSA supervision manuals push lenders to make phishing-resistant passkeys the default for logins, transfers, and account changes.
Draft FSA supervisory language pushes banks and brokers to make phishing-resistant passkeys the default for logins, transfers and account changes while keeping fallback paths for customers without smartphones.
AEON Financial Service’s October member letter trims petrol-station bonus categories while keeping supermarket points unchanged, nudging drivers toward in-house fuel affiliates.
JCB’s October campaigns pair a cash-advance signup lottery for domestic cards with a Disney ticket milestone for new Platinum and Gold members.
AEON Financial Service is converting selected mall point balances into supermarket fuel coupons, targeting Silver Week travelers who face petrol prices above 180 yen per liter in parts of Kanto.
AEON Financial Service is adding a warehouse-club cashback lane on its Signature Visa cards from 1 October, targeting households that split bulk grocery runs between AEON malls and Costco-style outlets.
AEON Financial's Signature Visa now pays elevated cashback on Costco Japan warehouse lanes when charges clear through the issuer's October promo window.
Sumitomo Mitsui Card will limit complimentary airport lounge companions to one guest per visit on select Visa Gold products from November 15, matching network audit findings that dual-entry abuse rose on Tokyo–Haneda international routes.
JCB Co. added itemized per-diem lines on corporate card statements for Diet secretariat staff traveling overseas, a transparency tweak ahead of October’s extraordinary session and stricter public expense audits.
PayPay Corp published a contingency playbook for card-linked QR payments after a ransomware outage at Keio-affiliated malls left some stores unable to accept its wallet for two days.
Keio Group’s ransomware incident hit hotel bookings and card payments at some group retail stores. For households, the fallback is cash—and a closer look at the statement.
MUFG Card's revised overseas ATM cash-advance fee table takes effect in October, adding a ¥158 per-transaction charge to a travel cash calculation already pressured by a weak yen near ¥148.76. The change covers cash advances, not typhoon chargeback rules.
PayPay Card raised its monthly points ceiling on QR-code transit taps through October’s commute week, targeting Tokyo subway and bus wallets as PayPay and card networks compete for contactless fare share after Silver Week travel patterns normalized.
Rakuten Card tightened typhoon refund documentation before Silver Week disputes escalate to chargebacks, requiring airline disruption codes, hotel force-majeure letters, and timestamped outage evidence when merchants refuse storm-related cancellations.