＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
Rakuten Card is the credit card with the highest customer satisfaction rating.
According to the 2020 Credit Card Customer Satisfaction SurveySM published by J.D. Power, Rakuten Card ranked first overall in the no-annual-fee category, receiving the highest ratings in two factors: “points program” and “member services/benefits.”
Incidentally, the Rakuten Premium Card (annual fee of ¥11,000) ranked first overall in the annual fee category, receiving the highest ratings in four factors: “credit features,” “points program,” “member services/benefits,” and “procedures and support.”
As seen in the commercial above, I actually joined and used the card a few years ago and have experienced firsthand how great it is to accumulate points.
So, in this article, I’d like to explain in an easy-to-understand manner how to join Rakuten Card, its benefits, and how to apply for and cancel your card.
1. Rakuten Card Process from “Application” to “Card Issuance”
You can easily apply online.
① Agree to the Card Membership Terms and Conditions
② Fill out the application details (including personal information)
③ Confirm and submit the application details
④ Review by Rakuten Card (the next business day to two business days after application)
⑤ Identity verification by phone (two to five business days after application)
⑥ Card shipping procedures
⑦ Card arrival (one week to ten days after application)
2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Rakuten Card
(1) Advantages
① No annual fee
Please note that in addition to the Rakuten Card, which has no annual fee, there is also the Rakuten Premium Card (a higher-level card similar to a Gold Card) with an annual fee of 11,000 yen.
② Earn tons of points
Earn 1 point per 100 yen wherever you shop.
③ Earn even more points at Rakuten-affiliated stores and use them to shop.
And when you shop at Rakuten-affiliated stores, you earn an additional 1 point per 100 yen. You can also use Rakuten Points to shop at Rakuten-affiliated stores. (Please note that there are some stores where you can only earn points but cannot use them.)
Rakuten-affiliated stores include many brick-and-mortar locations, such as McDonald’s, Mister Donut, Daimaru, Matsuzakaya, Konan, Idemitsu, and Cosmo Oil, as well as online options such as Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Travel, and Rakuten Books.
④ Fast card issuance and mail delivery
⑤ Wide range of demographics and occupations available
Not only full-time employees, but also students, part-time workers, housewives, and office ladies are eligible to apply for a card. Self-employed individuals and pensioners are also eligible.
⑥ Earn massive points when you sign up and use your card
Earn 5,000 points when you sign up and use your card. Depending on the time of year, you can even earn 7,000 points. This is enough for a ¥5,000 purchase, making it a huge gift.
⑦ Wide range of payment options
We accept a variety of payment methods, including one-time, two-time, revolving, installment, bonus lump-sum, and two-time bonus installments.
⑧ Wide variety of designs
The main designs are silver and pink, but there are also Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Rakuten Panda, FC Barcelona, Rakuten Eagles, and YOSHIKI designs.
⑨ If you set up “Rakuten Edy,” you can use it as an “electronic money” card.
(2) Disadvantages
① ETC Cards Are Paid for
An ETC card can be added as an optional feature to your credit card, but Rakuten Card’s ETC service requires a fee (annual fee of ¥550).
However, if you become a heavy Rakuten Card user and become a “Platinum Member” or “Diamond Member,” you can get an ETC card for free, and the annual fee is waived.
② You receive frequent campaign emails.
Some of them may contain truly valuable information, but checking them one by one is a pain, so it’s best to read them casually and ignore the rest.
③ If you do nothing, you will be charged a “statement issuance fee.”
However, if you register for Rakuten Card’s online statement management service, “Rakuten eNAVI,” after joining, this fee will be waived.
④ If you have a remaining balance on your Rakuten Edy card, it will not be transferred to a new card when your Rakuten Card expires.
I personally had a bitter experience with this, and I wrote about it in detail in an article titled “I couldn’t accept that my Rakuten Edy was invalid, so I used chat support to get a refund from Rakuten.” Please refer to it.
3. Rakuten Card Application Criteria
Anyone over 18 years old, including students (high school students are not eligible), housewives, and part-time/casual workers, can apply for a card. The application criteria are more lenient than those of other card companies.
In other words, as long as the head of household or family members have income, Rakuten Card is eligible. Students are also eligible as long as both parents have income.
4. How to Cancel a Rakuten Card
If you wish to cancel your Rakuten Card, please call the Rakuten Card Contact Center (0570-66-6910). Cancellation cannot be done online.
Canceling your Rakuten Card will also cancel your Rakuten ETC Card.
As mentioned in 2. (2) Disadvantages ④ above, if you cancel a Rakuten Card with Edy functionality, be sure to use up all remaining Edy balance before discarding the card.
This is because even if the card becomes invalid as a credit card, it remains valid as a Rakuten Edy Card as long as there is remaining Edy balance. If you discard the card before using up all the Edy balance, you will not be compensated.
For information on how to use up a prepaid card, please refer to our previous article.
Also, your Rakuten Points will remain even if you cancel your Rakuten Card, so please continue to use it as a Rakuten Point Card until you run out of Rakuten Points.