Japan

In stores, cash sits alongside a wide mix of cashless options. Credit cards dominate cashless spending by value, and QR code payments are now the second-largest cashless method: METI’s figures show JPY 16.6 trillion paid by code payments in 2025, against JPY 6.0 trillion in electronic money. Contactless e-money and transport cards such as Suica, PASMO, WAON, nanaco, iD and QUICPay are used for fares and small purchases, while QR apps such as PayPay, Rakuten Pay, d Barai and au PAY are common. JCB is the domestic card scheme, J-Debit lets bank cash cards pay at the till, and JPQR is a unified QR standard for merchants.

Online shopping is growing steadily. Japan’s Statistics Bureau found that, on average in 2025, 56.9% of households of two or more people shopped online each month, up from 55.3% in 2024, spending an average of JPY 26,928 a month on it, 8.0% more than a year earlier; food and travel were the largest categories. The leading marketplaces include Rakuten Ichiba, Amazon and Yahoo! Shopping. Merchants that accept cards online must meet the industry’s Credit Card Security Guidelines, which since the March 2025 edition require EMV 3-D Secure for online merchants, measures against fraudulent logins and protection of card data (see regulatory notes). A Japanese-language checkout with yen pricing and local options such as konbini payment is the norm.

Payments are overseen by the Financial Services Agency (FSA) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Under the Payment Services Act, the FSA registers funds transfer service providers, issuers of prepaid payment instruments such as e-money, and electronic payment service providers. METI administers the Instalment Sales Act, under which card issuers, acquirers and payment facilitators that sign up merchants must register, and merchants must take measures against card data leaks and fraudulent use. The Credit Card Security Guidelines (revised March 2026) are treated as the practical standard for meeting those duties: online merchants must adopt EMV 3-D Secure, avoid retaining card data or comply with PCI DSS, and address website vulnerabilities. The Bank of Japan oversees payment systems.

Almost all adults are banked. The World Bank’s Global Findex 2025 found that 98.5% of Japanese adults had an account in 2024 and 91.5% owned a debit card; the 2021 round put credit card ownership at 70% and found 52.5% of adults had used a phone or the internet to buy something online. The internal affairs ministry reported that 91.8% of households owned a smartphone in 2025. METI has set an interim goal of a 65% cashless payment ratio by 2030 and a long-term goal of 80%.