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.