JCB Marukai Premium Card - All USA accounts to close April 2018.
 

I recently came across a blogger who wrote about the JCB Marukai Premium Card. I had never heard about this card before, but at a 3% cash back rate it really caught my eye, though I still a bit skeptical as I have heard very little about this card. Has anyone ever used this card and have any opinions on it? Is it really as straightforward with the cash back as it says? Is it worth picking up?



★Earn up to 3% Cash Back Points*
Earn up to 3% cash back points on all purchases including spending at Marukai.
No limit on how much you can earn.
・Earn up to 1% cash back points* on first $1,000 yearly, and
・Earn up to 2% cash back points* on next $2,000 yearly, and
・Earn up to 3% cash back points* on over $3,000 yearly.

★Earn up to an additional $50 Bonus**
・ Earn additional $15 bonus** when you spend $1,000 or more yearly, or
・ Earn additional $50 bonus** when you spend $5,000 or more yearly.

Details here: http://www.jcbusa.com/card_marukaica_prem.html

Yeah I found that page and was looking it over. I was wondering more from personal experiences anyone that may have had or currently has this card.

JCB is not known for high limits and there is no online account maintenance. Other than that I really like the cards. The customer service is solid and there are even local offices in some cities.

JCB has really good and personal customer service, their limits are usually low between 2k and 5k. They are geared toward Japanese citizens or those who fancy Japanese chain stores like Marukai or Mitsuwa. Even though there is no online account access, you can still use any US online banking system to make electronic payments. Overall, if you like old school good service and no gimmicks, this might be the card for you. 3% cash back with a $25 annual fee sounds good as well.

My mom has this card as she shops at Marukai. AFAIK, she seems to be happy with it. As stated, there are no online account maintenance but they do accept payments electronically from most US banks.

Customer service is good, and the card is mainly geared toward the Japanese expats living in the US or Japanese-Americans who shop at Japanese grocery stores such as Mitsuwa and Marukai. They also offer some deals to JCB cardholders at shops and restaurants that cater to the Japanese crowd, like HIS or IACE travel agencies, etc. Pretty good deals are also available for many places in HI, like gratis Waikiki Trolley for JCB cardholders, etc. And of course, JCB is the most accepted card in Japan so if one travels to Japan often, it's a good card to keep.

Also, through bilateral agreements, JCB cards are accepted anywhere they accept Discover cards. You may have some tough time explaining that to minimum wage earning cashiers when you try to use your JCB card to pay for your 7-Layer Buritto at Taco Bell or convincing the teenager cashier at Target who's only there for the summer time job that he/she is not going to do anything wrong when trying to process the JCB card as a Discover card. :D

As such, it's a toss up. For most Americans, dealing with hassle of assuring minimum wage earning cashiers that the JCB card can be swiped just like a Discover card may not be worthwhile as the knowledge of JCB cards are not that prevalent as VISA, MC, AMEX. But if you are a Japanophile who likes hanging around and shopping at places that mainly caters to Japanese expats and local Japanese-Americans, it's worth applying for. :D

Also, if you want to use iTunes Japan, it will reject non-Japan-issued Visa/MC cards but JCB USA cards paired with a random Japanese address in the "billing address" fields works just fine.

Discover logo on reverse?

Haven't noticed that. Maybe newer cards have them, but not sure.

Also, according to my mom, using a JCB card on an online merchant that takes Discover is iffy.

My friend said that buying iTunes Gift cards anywhere they sell them in the US works fine with iTunes Japan.

not on mine. Star and Cirrus logos though.

Nope, gift cards are region-locked. US gift card won't work on the Japan site.

Initial experiences with JCB Marukai Premium card
 

I applied for JCB Marukai Preferred card about five weeks ago and received my card today. Here are my experiences so far.

The Marukai Premium card web page at http://www.jcbusa.com/card_marukaica_prem.html lists "Call 1-800-366-4522 [...]" as one of the bullet items under the heading "APPLY NOW!!", but, according the phone representative, there actually is no way to apply either over the phone or by filling out a web form. I would have to print a PDF file and mail it in. OK. I'm willing to work a little for 3%.

About a week and a half later, I recieve a letter saying "Thank you for your application for credit. After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that we are unable to grant your request for the following reasons: *Unable to verify self-employment/income. We can, however, offer you credit on the following terms: Proof of Self-employment/income (i.e., tax forms)." OK, they may have stated their request a bit undiplomatically, but, I had listed a substantial income and described myself as self-employed. No other credit card company has ever asked for such proof as far as I recall, but I think their position is reasonable. So, I respond with three years (just to be sure) of back tax forms showing consistent income at the level I had stated.

A week or so later, I get a call from JCB asking me if I have an office separate from my home. I don't, but I mention that I have a business credit card and business bank account. Do I have a business license? Yes. Can I fax that to them? I don't have a fax, but they let me email it, which was a welcome bit of moderninty.

A few days later, they call back again and want to know why business license has two addresses (mailbox and business location).

Finally, a week or so after that, I get a letter saying that I have been approved and that my credit card should arrive shortly. The credit card arrives the next day, with a $3,000 credit limit. It's a puny limit, but, still, I appreciate them approving me, and I'm looking forward to using it. Hopefully, they'll increase the limit after we have some business history.

The credit card envelope also included two pages containing a total of twenty identical printed coupons, each offering a $1 off of $20 spending a Marukai. The pages were not perforated, but they did use thick glossy paper. There actually is a Marukai store near me. Maybe I'll take a look and see what they sell.

Here are my few experiences trying to see who accepts this card.

"Which credit cards can I accept with PayPal Merchant Services? PayPal supports a large number of credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diner's Club and EnRoute. Depending on your processor, Payflow Pro also supports level 2 and level 3 Purchasing Cards (P-Cards). Check cards or debit cards with either a Visa or MasterCard logo are supported and treated just like a credit card." -- https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/he...Id=59378&m=SRE

However, when I try to add a credit card to my paypal account, I am only offered Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Attempting to describe the JCB card as "Discover" (since Discover now processes JCB cards on their network) results in paypal claiming the card number is invalid.

I have not yet tried paying with paypal without using my paypal account. I did, however, try calling Paypal tech support, and I got one made up reason after another (your address is wrong, your JCB card was issued in Japan, you need get JCB to issue you a new card number, and, possibly correct, JCB is only accepted for Japense paypal accounts). I just wanted them to open two request tickets to clarify their web page and suggest that they start accepting JCB in the US via their existing Disover Network relationship. They support person refused to open trouble tickets. When I told him I though they were misleading their merchant customers into thinking they were able to accept JCB, the ebay representative put me on hold for a very long time until I eventually hung up.

I also looked at a few places that charge convenience fees for making some bigger payments that aren't normally done with credit cards. At a 3% rebate, these could make one a few tens of dollars a month.

The WilliamPaid rent payment service claims to accept Discover but doesn't mention JCB, and they don't currently accept my JCB card number. I emailed their tech support to suggest that they see if they can accept JCB via their existing Discover relationship.

PayUSATax advertises that it accepts Discover, but rejects my JCB card number. Their sister site, valuetaxpayment, which accepts American Express credit cards for tax payments, did not immediately reject my JCB card number, but I did not press the final button to authorize the payment.

Official Payments looks slightly more promising for paying taxes, since it lists "Discover Network" as one of its credit card payment options, and let me get all the way to the point of authorizing a payment, but I didn't try actually doing it.Update 2012.12.28: Official Payments accepted my JCB Marukai Premium card for paying my California estimated income tax online. I have not yet tried the same for Federal estimated income tax, for which Official Payments charges slightly different rates and has different policies.

If I recall correctly, this card currently has no web site and offers electronic payment only on an "emergency" basis and for a ~$15 fee, and requires me to talk to a live representative or write a letter to redeem my rebate points. On the other hand, the phone representative I spoke to say that many of their customers like to pay using their bank's online bill payment service.

So, at this point, it looks like I'm going to have to work for my 3%, but I'm still somehow enthused about it. Maybe it's just because I expect the credit card to be a conversation starter. Anyhow, I hope my efforts will make things a bit easier for anyone else considering trying this card.

I see no Discover logo anywhere on my new JCB Marukai Premium California card. There is, however, a Cirrus logo in the lower right corner of the back.

I have had a JCB card for several years now and, from my experience, Discover Network acceptance and JCB acceptance are positively not equivalent.
The problem is that some merchants still process the JCB under a separate contract similar to UnionPay acceptance contract before they joined up with Discover and those few that accept JCB thru Discover, either paid to update their existing terminals or just signed up for Discover recently. Some merchants I know, authorize my JCB, send the transaction to Discover and Discover never captures the transaction and it never posts to my card. There is particularly one restaurant in Vegas where I used to go and never got a posted charge even though I signed my JCB receipt. After a couple of visits, since I felt like I was a thief, I brought it to their attention but they had no clue and thought I was crazy, so I stopped going. Anyway, JCB is a good card but it has little to do with Discover in practice.

Rest assured, the experience you stated is reciprocally true when trying to use Discover cards in Japan.

Places where they see lots of American tourists, like in Tokyo, no problem. Trying to pay for a ryotei meal at a upscale traditional-style Japanese restaurant in Gifu where they rarely see foreigners, you may have some explainin' to do. Usually a simple JCB to onaji you ni kessai shite kudasai would go through fine, but sometimes it just doesn't work so you end up just whipping out a VISA, MC or AMEX instead.