This card is no longer accepting new applications. It looks like JCB will end all US operations in May.
JCB is a payment network like American Express, Visa, Mastercard or Discover. It has a lot of market share in Japan, but very little in the United States. JCB USA also directly issue two credit cards, the Mitsuwa card we will be looking at in this review and the Marukai card we’ve previously reviewed. Let’s take a quick look at the benefits on this card before diving in:
- Up to 3% cash back on all purchases
- No annual fee
- $15 bonus annually if you spend $1,000 or more on the Mitsuwa marketplace
Contents
Application Requirements
As mentioned in the title of this post, this card is not available in all states. You must live in one of the following states to be eligible:
- California
- Connecticut
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oregon
- Washington
They require proof of residence to be apply to able, they also usually require income verification (1040 form or pay stubs). You also need to be at least 21 years of age old. It’s not possible to apply online as it is with most other credit cards. Instead you have three options:
- Apply via phone
- Download application form and mail it in
- Pick up application form at any Mitsuwa store (you still need to mail it in).
Rewards Program
As mentioned this card earns up to 3% cash back on all purchases. This is how it works:
- First $2,000 spent annually will earn 1 point per $100 in spend (1% cash back)
- $2,000 – $5,000 spent annually will earn 2 points per $100 in spend (2% cash back)
- $5,000 – $50,000 spent annually will earn 3 points per $100 in spend (3% cash back)
- $50,000+ spent annually will earn 1 point per $100 in spend (1% cash back)
If you spent a total of $50,000 annually you’d earn:
- $20 for first $2,000 spend
- $60 for the next $3,000 in spend
- $1,350 for the next $45,000 in spend
Your effective cash back rate would be 2.86% cash back. This is the best you can do on the card though and requires the optimal spend of $50,000 annually. You would need to spend $7,000 on this card to break even against a 2% card. You have to redeem a minimum of $10 at a time and points are valid until the last day of the following calendar year from the day the points are accumulated.
How the points are calculated is a bit weird, it’s based on a per month basis. So let’s say you spend $99 in one month, you’d earn no points that month. If you spend another $99 the following month, you still wouldn’t receive any points from either month. This means you need to try and make sure you stick to intervals of $100 to maximize your rewards.
You also get a $15 bonus annually if you spend $1,500 or more at Mitsuwa marketplaces.
Card Acceptance
As mentioned at the start of the post, JCB are their own payment network. This means you can only use the card where JCB cards are accepted, thankfully Discover has a reciprocal agreement in place where Discover cards are can run on the JCB network and JCB cards can run on the Discover network. Unfortunately this doesn’t always work, some cashiers won’t accept JCB cards since they are listed as an acceptable payment form (even though if they run the card it’ll likely work). The payment terminal also needs to have the JCB/Discover software enabled for it to work and not all merchants have this turned on.
You can view a list of stores that this card has/hasn’t worked on by clicking here.
Card Benefits
This card comes with a few small benefits as well apart from the $15 bonus and up to 3% cash back rate.
JCB Plaza’s
There are 62 different JCB Plaza’s (Plaza Lounges) worldwide, you can view a full list of lounge locations here. You need to have your JCB card on you to access the plaza’s. They are basically travel agents and will give you advice on places to eat, drink and see. Rather than visiting you can also call and use them as a basic concierge service. Unfortunately none of these are located in airports.
Travel Insurance
- Air/Common Carrier Insurance: Up to $250,000 in coverage if you use your card to purchase an airline ticket
- Lost Luggage Insurance: Up to $1,000 in coverage if you use your card to purchase an airline ticket
Our Verdict
The JCB Marukai will be better for most people (although it’s not available in as many states, only (CA, NV, OR, WA, HI), as it earns 3% everywhere after $3,000 spend. There is a $15 annual fee, but that is waived the first year and there is also a spend bonus of $15 after $1,000 in spend or $50 after $5,000 in spend that makes up for this (this is an annual spending bonus). Another option would be the Discover it Miles card that earns 3% cash back on all purchases within the first year (then 1.5% back).
There is some serious downside to the JCB cards, the acceptance is really frustrating and the support is tailored to the Japanese market, so don’t expect in that department. They seem pretty eager to lock down accounts as well. That being said we’ve added it to the list of the best credit cards for non category spend.
F.A.Q’s
What Credit Bureau Do They Pull?
It depends on location but it looks like they will usually pull either TransUnion or Experian, in some cases they will pull both of these bureaus.
What Credit Limit Can I Expect?
There is only one data point on the creditboards credit pull database. This person was issued with a $1,500 limit. On the Marukai card the minimum reported limit was $500, maximum was $7,000 with an average of $2,786.
Can I Request A Credit Limit Increase?
Yes you can request a credit limit increase. This will result in a hard credit pull, they’ll also require proof of address & employment. The process generally takes four weeks in total to process. You also need a minimum of six months payment history before they’ll consider a CLI.
[Read:Â Credit Limit Increases By Card Issuer]
Can IÂ Pay The Statement Mid Cycle?
If you reach your credit limit it’s possible to pay the card off midway through your cycle and then put additional spend on the card. This can be useful for people who were approved for a small credit limit.
Can I Manufacture Spend On This Card?
I haven’t heard of any complete shut downs (although I’m sure readers will chime in in the comments). Although do expect frequent account lock downs and declined transactions.
In New York, they pull Experian. I planned to use this card as major card for MS but I freeze my Experian and they did mail me a letter saying they cannot pull credit report from Experian. Looks to me they don’t pull other 2 credit bureaus and no pin mentioned on a frozen report.
I’m I reading it right that if I spend $199 in a month I’d only earn on the first $100?
Correct, you earn in chunks of $100 on a per month basis. You basically earn 1-3x points per $100 in spend per month, it’s very annoying.
Crazy, looks like the hoops just aren’t worth it for me.
I looked into the JCB Marukai card last year, and both a card user online and a phone representative at JCB told me they don’t allow you to “recycle” your limit, which is to say, to charge up your balance then pay it down before the statement period ends and charge it up again. The card won’t prevent it, but you’ll get a call asking you not to. So that is likely not a viable way to get around the low credit limits they offer. Also, they seem to be a pretty small operation in the US. They didn’t have the ability to pay your balance online until a couple years ago. When I called, it seemed like I had reached a random person at JCB’s small office. She was an older woman with a Japanese accent and there was a bit of confusion on both our parts about whether we were understanding each other correctly. This was exactly how another person described who they talked to, making it seem like there’s a “lady who answers the phones” rather than a 24/7 customer service team.
Not an ideal candidate for MS, but it is a nice enhancement to the 2% cards out in the market
Definitely not a candidate for MS. JCB is sensitive to cycling your CL every month and large purchases as this doesn’t fit the profile of their typical users.