Reward programs spur credit and charge cards usage in Japan

Credit card acceptance across merchants had also expanded in recent years.

Japan’s credit and charge card payments market is projected to grow by 9.4% in 2025 to reach $857.3b (JPY128.6t) on rising consumer preference for non-cash transactions and wider acceptance of credit cards.

The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4% between 2025 and 2029 to reach $1.1t by the end of the four-year period, according to data and analytics company GlobalData.

Credit and charge cards payments value reached $783.8b in 2024, a 12.1% growth compared to a year earlier.

Associated rewards programs have helped entice Japanese consumers to adopt card payments. These programs are considered “far more beneficial” than those offered by debit and prepaid cards, said Ravi Sharma, lead banking and payments analyst at GlobalData.

“Another important factor driving this usage is the wider acceptance of credit cards amongst merchants, with credit cards now accepted across all types of merchants,” Sharma said.

Credit and charge cards accounted for 96.2% share of overall card payment value in 2024. The frequency of payments per card was 70.7 times in 2024 compared to just 2.4 times for debit cards.

“This is mainly due to the value-added benefits associated with these cards, such as flexible payment options and reward programs,” the report said.

Credit and charge cards are the primary method of payment for e-commerce transactions in Japan, accounting for over half of total transaction value in 2024, according to GlobalData.