3 ms·

Worth noting that if you have a US-issued visa card, you cannot use it to pay for IC via Apple pay.

by kansai 3y ago

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
a_t48 3y ago
You can however buy a physical card (at a few of the major stations) then transfer it to your phone. Once it's there you still can't reload it directly, but you can use a recharge station (with cash) - just put your phone down where the card would go.
- lhl 3y ago
  Sadly due to semiconductor shortage, physical Suica cards are very hard to come by atm: https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/sale-of-pasmo-and-suica-cards-suspended-except-those-for-tourists-080223 https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/sale-of-pasmo-and-suica-c... FWIW I've been using Suica on a Japanese Garmin smart watch and refilling it with Google Pay on an international card without too many problems (and before that with Apple Pay with the same card on iPhone/Apple Watch), although there are probably some gotchas (Apple Pay at POS seems to be pretty hit and miss for in Tokyo and I've never figured out why).
  - a_t48 3y ago
    Oh wow, that sucks. Glad I was able to get one when I was there in March. Tourists can still use https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/welcomesuica.html https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/welcomesuica.... though it seemed like a worse deal than a regular card when I was there.
    - nicolas314 3y ago
      Outside of Tokyo you can still easily get one of the other regional IC cards [1]. They can now all be used everywhere in Japan including the Tokyo subway, provided you don't start travel in one region and end it in another. [1] https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html
  - lobochrome 3y ago
    I have a EU Garmin - is there a way to get Suica?!
    - lhl 3y ago
      The Japanese IC systems all use FeliCa, which not all devices support. I believe Garmin only has it enabled (unsure if this is licensing or hardware) in their East Asian models (Hong Kong's Octopus cards also FeliCa). * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FeliCa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FeliCa * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIFARE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIFARE
Torkel 3y ago
Same with EU-issued visa cards! As I learned when visiting in July. You can charge up the iphone suica balance using cash in the machines... a bit weird but that's what I did. Getting back home first thing I did was get a mastercard to complement my visa, as it seems EU mastercards still works to charge Suica. It would be interesting to read about why this happened, it feels like there are interesting payment processing details to learn from it :)
- valenceelectron 3y ago
  As a test I just successfully charged my Suica in my iPhone (card was issued in 2019) with my EU-issued Visa (issued 2021) through Apple Pay. Is there maybe some another condition that may influence whether it works or not? Edit: this article explains it: https://atadistance.net/2023/03/15/troubleshooting-apple-pay-suica/ https://atadistance.net/2023/03/15/troubleshooting-apple-pay... My Visa is actually listed as one of those which still work ("Some VISA debit cards work for adding money to Suica (DKB, Hyundai Zero, Revolut works depending on the country of the account, no other issuers confirmed).")
  - Torkel 3y ago
    Really? Interesting! I tried with at least two different EU (Swedish) visa cards back in July and none of the cards I had worked. Not in Japan anymore otherwise I would have tried again. This article, linked to from a sibling comment here, seems to indicate it shouldn't work for you :) https://atadistance.net/2023/07/15/foreign-visa-cards-blocked-for-japanese-mobile-and-online-payments/ https://atadistance.net/2023/07/15/foreign-visa-cards-blocke... edit: ha. you read the same articles better than I did.
    - valenceelectron 3y ago
      Yes as per the article I'm luckily an outlier. :) But this is a very unfortunate situation especially in combination with the stopped sale of physical cards. I still have an old PASMO which I used for a commuter pass in 2016-2017 so I may be able to use this card when I visit Japan again next year. Well, unless these cards expire. Not sure about that. Is it known whether this foreign-VISA situation is supposed to resolve and get fixed eventually? The article didn't mention whether the current situation is on purpose or an error. I fear that if this is on purpose it might actually get worse and other foreign cards eventually stop working as well. >Not in Japan anymore otherwise I would have tried again. I'm neither. Does this change anything? I could charge from home directly in ¥. But the card is from DKB so expected to work.
tatami 3y ago
It was possible before, I had used it until last year! But earlier this year I checked in with some 240 JPY left and found out that I couldn't charge it during the trip... Luckily it was enough for the 2 stations in the Osaka Metro to save me an awkward moment.

Worth noting that if you have a US-issued visa card, you cannot use it to pay for IC via Apple pay.

by kansai 3y ago

Worth noting that if you have a US-issued visa card, you cannot use it to pay for IC via Apple pay.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

a_t48 3y ago

You can however buy a physical card (at a few of the major stations) then transfer it to your phone. Once it's there you still can't reload it directly, but you can use a recharge station (with cash) - just put your phone down where the card would go.

lhl 3y ago
Sadly due to semiconductor shortage, physical Suica cards are very hard to come by atm: https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/sale-of-pasmo-and-suica-cards-suspended-except-those-for-tourists-080223 https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/sale-of-pasmo-and-suica-c... FWIW I've been using Suica on a Japanese Garmin smart watch and refilling it with Google Pay on an international card without too many problems (and before that with Apple Pay with the same card on iPhone/Apple Watch), although there are probably some gotchas (Apple Pay at POS seems to be pretty hit and miss for in Tokyo and I've never figured out why).
- a_t48 3y ago
  Oh wow, that sucks. Glad I was able to get one when I was there in March. Tourists can still use https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/welcomesuica.html https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/welcomesuica.... though it seemed like a worse deal than a regular card when I was there.
  - nicolas314 3y ago
    Outside of Tokyo you can still easily get one of the other regional IC cards [1]. They can now all be used everywhere in Japan including the Tokyo subway, provided you don't start travel in one region and end it in another. [1] https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html
- lobochrome 3y ago
  I have a EU Garmin - is there a way to get Suica?!
  - lhl 3y ago
    The Japanese IC systems all use FeliCa, which not all devices support. I believe Garmin only has it enabled (unsure if this is licensing or hardware) in their East Asian models (Hong Kong's Octopus cards also FeliCa). * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FeliCa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FeliCa * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIFARE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIFARE

Torkel 3y ago

Same with EU-issued visa cards! As I learned when visiting in July. You can charge up the iphone suica balance using cash in the machines... a bit weird but that's what I did. Getting back home first thing I did was get a mastercard to complement my visa, as it seems EU mastercards still works to charge Suica. It would be interesting to read about why this happened, it feels like there are interesting payment processing details to learn from it :)

valenceelectron 3y ago
As a test I just successfully charged my Suica in my iPhone (card was issued in 2019) with my EU-issued Visa (issued 2021) through Apple Pay. Is there maybe some another condition that may influence whether it works or not? Edit: this article explains it: https://atadistance.net/2023/03/15/troubleshooting-apple-pay-suica/ https://atadistance.net/2023/03/15/troubleshooting-apple-pay... My Visa is actually listed as one of those which still work ("Some VISA debit cards work for adding money to Suica (DKB, Hyundai Zero, Revolut works depending on the country of the account, no other issuers confirmed).")
- Torkel 3y ago
  Really? Interesting! I tried with at least two different EU (Swedish) visa cards back in July and none of the cards I had worked. Not in Japan anymore otherwise I would have tried again. This article, linked to from a sibling comment here, seems to indicate it shouldn't work for you :) https://atadistance.net/2023/07/15/foreign-visa-cards-blocked-for-japanese-mobile-and-online-payments/ https://atadistance.net/2023/07/15/foreign-visa-cards-blocke... edit: ha. you read the same articles better than I did.
  - valenceelectron 3y ago
    Yes as per the article I'm luckily an outlier. :) But this is a very unfortunate situation especially in combination with the stopped sale of physical cards. I still have an old PASMO which I used for a commuter pass in 2016-2017 so I may be able to use this card when I visit Japan again next year. Well, unless these cards expire. Not sure about that. Is it known whether this foreign-VISA situation is supposed to resolve and get fixed eventually? The article didn't mention whether the current situation is on purpose or an error. I fear that if this is on purpose it might actually get worse and other foreign cards eventually stop working as well. >Not in Japan anymore otherwise I would have tried again. I'm neither. Does this change anything? I could charge from home directly in ¥. But the card is from DKB so expected to work.

tatami 3y ago

It was possible before, I had used it until last year! But earlier this year I checked in with some 240 JPY left and found out that I couldn't charge it during the trip... Luckily it was enough for the 2 stations in the Osaka Metro to save me an awkward moment.