Rakuten Pay, Cash and the likes - can someone explain?

[Viralriver]

Hi all, so I'm looking to buy a gift for my girlfriend which will give me 5% points return if I pay by Rakuten Pay. As a test, I tried to use Rakuten Pay in a book off for something costing ~6500 yen the other day but it gave me an error. I'm not sure why, but I was able to pay for a plastic bag in the same shop with it.

I think I'm getting extremely confused with the rakuten ecosystem, so maybe this is where my problems lie.

I do not have a Rakuten bank account, but I do have a credit card with them. From what I can see, the payment possibilities in general are:

1. Rakuten credit
2. Rakuten Pay
3. Rakuten edy
4. Rakuten cash
5. Rakuten points

My understanding of these:

1. Simply a credit card. I have a limit and I pay this off from my SMBC bank account every month.

2. I thought this was just a QR code version of using my credit card. But since I can't use it I guess there's something else.

3. I believe this is an app that I can charge value from my credit card, or with points and then use that. Probably wrong.

4. Absolutely no idea, can't tell the difference between this and 2,3.

5. Point card.

Can someone explain to me 2,3,4 and how they work as I've not been able to understand, and also if there's possibly a reason why I can't use the rakuten pay app? Thank you!

[adamu]

I'll let the Rakuten fans answer the other questions, but I had problems using Rakuten Pay in the beginning because "My Rakuten" contact details didn't match the Rakuten Pay details. You can check your My Rakuten details here: https://my.rakuten.co.jp/

[Yokohama]

Here is my understanding.

Regarding Rakuten points, there are two types of Rakuten points. Regular points, which are valid for a long period (1 year or so) and time-limited points, valid for only 1 or 2 months or so. Regular Rakuten points you can use at many places, including most Rakuten services. The time-limited points are not only limited in time, but also have more limited usage, e.g. you cannot use them at many Rakuten services. You can use the time-limited points at Rakuten ichiba and Rakuten Pay as we will see below.

Both Rakuten Pay and Rakuten Edy are payment methods. Rakuten Edy is always prepaid. You need to charge your Edy account before you can pay with Rakuten Edy. You can charge your Edy card or Edy account on your phone with your credit card, regular Rakuten points or cash using some machines in the konbini. Edy works by touching a reader with your Edy card or phone during payment.

Rakuten Pay is not prepaid and works by having a QR or barcode read during payment. You can link Rakuten Pay to your credit card or Rakuten bank account, and get charged when you pay. When you pay with Rakuten Pay, you can also use Rakuten points including Rakuten time-limited points (benefit over Edy). Rakuten Pay is also integrated with various websites, so that is also another way to pay online at third party sites.

Now Rakuten Cash is basically a way to put money (either from your credit card or from your bank account) into Rakuten Cash. You can also pay with Rakuten Cash when you pay Rakuten Pay, meaning the amount will be deducted from your Rakuten Cash amount. If you use a Rakuten credit card to charge your Edy or use with Rakuten Pay you basically earn 1% in Rakuten points. However if you go the route of Rakuten credit card -> Rakuten Cash -> Rakuten Pay then you earn 1.5% in points.

One other benefit of Rakuten Pay (at least on Android) is that it is integrated/can link with Suica and you can also earn 0.5% on payments done with Suica.

[mighty58]

I'm guessing it's so complex for two reasons. On the one hand, it prevents the average joe from maximizing benefits. On the other, it gives a feeling of accomplishment and "otoku-kan" for those who put in the time to understand it all, which I imagine has the psychological effect of sucking them deeper into the ecosystem. Because, let's be honest, it could really be so much simpler.

[zeroshiki]

I think the reason its complex is because Rakuten just acquires companies and uses their services with Rakuten branding instead of building their ecosystem from scratch. Rakuten Pay used to be Rakuten Checkout and was something like Paypal. They rebranded it to Rakuten Pay when Apple Pay came out but kept it as e-commerce only. That changed when Paypay came out and started the whole QR code craze so Rakuten had to get in on that as well. Rakuten Cash is their idea of loading money into your account like how Paypay does it but in typical Rakuten fashion it was probably created by a separate team and they just forced the integration.
Edy was one of the earliest cashless payment methods in Japan (I still remember it and Suica being the only ones you could use). Rakuten bought them and has been operating it ever since.

[Beaglehound]

It’s threads like this that make me long for the simpler world of cash.

[RetireJapan]

It’s threads like this that make me long for the simpler world of cash.

I'm still happily using credit cards and cash. Haven't come close to any of the 'Pay's

[Beaglehound]

It’s threads like this that make me long for the simpler world of cash.

I'm still happily using credit cards and cash. Haven't come close to any of the 'Pay's

Same here, though debit rather than credit.

[Viralriver]

I'll let the Rakuten fans answer the other questions, but I had problems using Rakuten Pay in the beginning because "My Rakuten" contact details didn't match the Rakuten Pay details. You can check your My Rakuten details here: https://my.rakuten.co.jp/

Thanks, I see my name there is registered in romaji, and in katakana so on the surface I feel like it should be fine. I was also able to process a 5 yen payment (yay). How can I tell what name is being used for Rakuten Pay?

[Viralriver]

Here is my understanding.

Regarding Rakuten points, there are two types of Rakuten points. Regular points, which are valid for a long period (1 year or so) and time-limited points, valid for only 1 or 2 months or so. Regular Rakuten points you can use at many places, including most Rakuten services. The time-limited points are not only limited in time, but also have more limited usage, e.g. you cannot use them at many Rakuten services. You can use the time-limited points at Rakuten ichiba and Rakuten Pay as we will see below.

Both Rakuten Pay and Rakuten Edy are payment methods. Rakuten Edy is always prepaid. You need to charge your Edy account before you can pay with Rakuten Edy. You can charge your Edy card or Edy account on your phone with your credit card, regular Rakuten points or cash using some machines in the konbini. Edy works by touching a reader with your Edy card or phone during payment.

Rakuten Pay is not prepaid and works by having a QR or barcode read during payment. You can link Rakuten Pay to your credit card or Rakuten bank account, and get charged when you pay. When you pay with Rakuten Pay, you can also use Rakuten points including Rakuten time-limited points (benefit over Edy). Rakuten Pay is also integrated with various websites, so that is also another way to pay online at third party sites.

Now Rakuten Cash is basically a way to put money (either from your credit card or from your bank account) into Rakuten Cash. You can also pay with Rakuten Cash when you pay Rakuten Pay, meaning the amount will be deducted from your Rakuten Cash amount. If you use a Rakuten credit card to charge your Edy or use with Rakuten Pay you basically earn 1% in Rakuten points. However if you go the route of Rakuten credit card -> Rakuten Cash -> Rakuten Pay then you earn 1.5% in points.

One other benefit of Rakuten Pay (at least on Android) is that it is integrated/can link with Suica and you can also earn 0.5% on payments done with Suica.

Thank you this is incredibly helpful. If I can get Pay working, I'm looking to buy a product for 50k JPY which advertises 5% back when using RPay. So am I right in thinking that if I:

1) Charge Rakuten Cash from my Rakuten credit card
2) Pay with Rakuten Pay via Rakuten Cash

Then I will receive 5.5% via this method? Or, how exactly does the 5% get incorporated in these situations? Also, am I not getting an additional 1% for having used my credit card in the first place as well?

EDIT:

So I just topped up my Rakuten Cash and tried to make the purchase via Rakuten Pay. It's all online so thought it would be smoother than in-store.

I get this message:

購入制限によりお支払い手続きを停止しました。
購入制限に関する詳細は、情報を開示致しかねます。
ご了承いただきますようお願い申し上げます。

Essentially, I have purchase restrictions, my order didn't go through, and they won't tell me why. I now have all that money wrapped into R Cash for no reason, and essentially can't use it because of some absurd restriction on my account. I've literally never missed a payment so I can't tell why this would happen.