kebosabi

Because the Credit Saison UA MP Visa is only for those with Japanese credit history and for those living in Japan?

The Marukai JCB is one of the select few JCB cards that Americans can get while living in the US. In a world of VISA, MC, Discover and AMEX, having a JCBUSA issued JCB card might be of an interest to some people, I guess.

But IMO, I really don't see JCB cards being that much of a deal unless you happen to shop at either Mitsuwa, Marukai, or other stores that cater to the Japanese expat/Japanese-American community.

bluto

I have in my notes that JCB might not grant 3% for tax payments (e.g. PayUSA) even assuming you could get JCB accepted by your processor. I made that note awhile ago and have since forgotten where I read it or why I thought that might be true. If anyone has info on this, it'd be much appreciated.

jamar

And one more thing that's been on my mind-

Anyone know why JCB cards are only available to residents of certain states?

Dr_wanderlust

Originally JCB USA started issuing cards only in state where there were a lot of tourists from Japan, Japanese nationals, and Japanese Americans. JCB-USA is a small bank and still focused on servicing such consumers.

When I got my first JCB card it was only available in 5 states but now I believe there are 9 states. The Marukai card is still limited to 5 states.

kebosabi

Well, you aren't really going to see a lot of Japanese expats or a large Japanese-American community in places like Des Moines, IA or Charleston, WV are ya?

skynerd

Perhaps that belief was partly due to my post #12, where I reported that PayUSATax rejected my JCB card number, and post #26 where trumpet205 reported that a Discover representative had claimed that the JCB/Discover agreement to share their authorization network is for "card present" transactions only.

However, I just updated my post #12 in this thread to report that Official Payments accepted my JCB Marukai card for an online payment of California estimated income tax. I selected "Discover Network" as the card type.

dssxxxx

Maybe off topic but our TD Bank card gives 3% until you reach $1500 in cash back and then 1% on all other purchases. Not 3% on first $1500 spent but when you reach $1500 cash back.

This is the main reason we use it over all the other cards on the market. But, we did get the Mileage Plus Club card recently and will see if the perks are worth the money (probably not since we are lifetime UC members).

tjguitar85

It appears the card you reference is no longer available.

dssxxxx

Both my wife and I use it as our main card.

Just checked my cash back balance and it is over $3K.

Just FYI.

jamar

You may still have it, but it's not publicly available anymore- on either side of the border. Current offer is 5% for first six months and 1% after in the US and 0.5% up to C$3000 and 1% after that up to C$25000 in Canada (but you get Chip+PIN, something that they don't offer in the US).

Also, back to the topic of JCB (and going back to my question)- you'd think they'd expand the issuing range a little more. IA, WV, maybe not, but it seems that lots of Japanese companies are setting up shop in southern states like TN.

kebosabi

True there are Japanese MNCs that are opening up plants in other states, but I think JCB would be more interested in places where there's a high concentration of stores and businesses that cater to the Japanese expats and Japanese-American crowd so as to provide JCB exclusive discounts and incentives.

Somehow I doubt there's a Japanese grocery store like Marukai or Mitsuwa, or a Japanese travel agency like IACE or HIS or a Japanese bookstore like Kinokuniya or Sanseido in Blue Springs, MS despite a new Toyota plant there (is there even a Japanese restaurant in Blue Springs, MS?). And I highly doubt opening up a franchise of these stores in MS would be any successful either.

Now if you look at the LA area where there's a large Japanese-American population, in addition to having the national headquarters of Toyota and Honda along with other Japanese corporations and also have Mitsuwa, Marukai, Nijiya market chains, IACE and HIS travel agencies, Kinokuniya, Asahiya, Sanseido bookstores and even three new Daiso stores all within the LA/Orange County region that cater to the Japanese expat and Japanese-American community, that's certainly a regional focus JCB will be concentrating at.

skynerd

Sorry for perpetuating off topic discussion, but I feel compelled to warn that the TD Bank terms and conditions PDFs limit that 5 points/$ offer to a few purchase categories, and the points do not appear to be redeemable directly for cash.

On the other hand, to avoid steering anyone wrong, I also feel compelled to mention that redemptions include gas cards and possibly even travel for better than $.01/point, and the promotional categories include "groceries" for personal cards and "office supplies" for the business card, which include some retailers that often sell gift cards and sometimes let you buy credit card gift cards with a credit card. So, I might someday apply after the Chase / Office Depot / Vanilla Visa bonanza ends, since I already completed a similar 12 month Citi ThankYou promotion, largely via CVS Pharmacy selling Vanilla Visa (http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/1242186/ and http://creditcards.citicards.com/usc...al/default.htm ).

jamar

Ah. I keep thinking more along the lines of the advertising I've seen in China, which went along the lines of "Going to Japan? Get a JCB card!" and "You can use JCB cards in Korea as well!" and if they could try going that route- catering to people who travel to Asia.

(that and I really want one, but don't reside in a JCB-issuing state- here in China I was able to get a secured JCB/UnionPay credit card but eventually ditched it because I needed the security deposit back)

kebosabi

It could happen in the future, but I think JCB USA's current stance is not much different from any other bank or financial institution out there: try to make money from likely frequent users.

When you define frequent, it means using it for everything from going to restaurants, supermarkets and bookstores on a day-to-day basis. In that light, I assume JCB USA's stance is that the Japanese expats and Japanese-Americans residing in CA, CT, IL, NV, IL, NY, NJ, OR, WA and HI would be far more likely to use them for everyday needs like going to Japanese restaurants, supermarkets, or bookstores, rather than say, an average American corporate worker in SLC whose extent of interacting with Japanese culture and cuisine is flying on UA and going to NRT twice a year.

Somehow I doubt the average American household in SLC would be likely to be buying the latest Japanese manga volume, eating at Japanese restaurants, or buying Japanese groceries every week compared to the Japanese expat or Japanese American living in SEA or ORD where there's a big Japanese grocery store (Uwajimaya in Seattle, Mitsuwa in Chicago).

Is there a specific reason why the JCB is such an interest? Maybe I'm too Americanized, but I really don't see a need to apply for one. My mom does have a Marukai JCB card (she's a weekly shopper), but my VISA, MC, Discover, and AMEX works just as fine there (I go there once a month). And when I go to Japan, Korea, and China, my VISA and MC are just as accepted as JCB cards.

Unless you happen to like Japanese cuisine and buying Japanese groceries for it and be willing to switchover to Marukai or Mitsuwa over say the usual Kroger or Safeway chains, I really don't see a good deal in it. Even I only go to Marukai or Mitsuwa once a month; most of the time Ralphs and Vons are fine for my everyday grocery needs.

jamar

My main interest is still in the fact that it works on iTunes Japan- pair a JCB card number from any country (for example, my Chinese one) with a random Japanese address and it'll pass the region check, whereas my US-issued Visa/MC/AmEx cards will always return the message "this card is not valid for Japan". Same with a couple of other online services I use (although those will accept my US-issued AmEx, JCB has a lower forex fee).

So to be entirely honest, I could do without (I'll go buy an iTunes gift card next time I go to Japan, probably). It just makes a little part of my life more convenient.