Which Rakuten Card?

[KansaiKen]

Sorry, I'm sure this has been asked many times, but I would like to know which card I should get.

I have created my Rakuten Ginko account (I also have Rakuten mobile).

I am looking to start investing with NISA (tsumitate); 50,000 - 80,000 a month for now.
I spend about 200,000 yen a month on my credit card.

I'd like to maximize the points I get from spending with my credit card, and through the NISA purchases.

Should I get the Rakuten standard, gold, or premium card?

Thanks

[beanhead]

I have the gold one. Got it just before they reduced some of the benefits. Most people say it is not really worth the yearly fee. Start with the basic one. They will try and upsell you pretty quickly anyway, so take a look at what they send you then make the decision.

Mine has Priority Pass for airports but only 4 times a year now I think.

[adamu]

I have the gold one... Mine has Priority Pass for airports but only 4 times a year now I think.

That's premium, not gold. And it's 5 times, not 4 (used to be unlimited).

Personally I migrated away from Rakuten, tired of their shenanigans. SBI/SMBC currently pay ¥5000/month for maxing out their CC investment. But that's getting downgraded this month, too.

[beanhead]

I have the gold one... Mine has Priority Pass for airports but only 4 times a year now I think.

That's premium, not gold. And it's 5 times, not 4 (used to be unlimited).

Just checked and you are right. Premium. Confusingly the color is gold.
We could probably reduce our yearly costs on credit cards a bit, and just keep the free ones.

[adamu]

I am looking to start investing with NISA (tsumitate); 50,000 - 80,000 a month for now.
I spend about 200,000 yen a month on my credit card.

I'd like to maximize the points I get from spending with my credit card, and through the NISA purchases.

Should I get the Rakuten standard, gold, or premium card?

To actually answer the question:

For daily spending, it looks like it doesn't matter, because they all pay <1% cashback (< because they don't pay points on consumption tax and various transactions).
For investing in low cost funds, accounting for the annual feels, if you invest ¥80,000/mo, you earn:
¥4,800/year with basic (0.5%)
¥5,000/year with gold (0.75% - ¥2,200 fee)
-¥1400/year with preimum (1% - ¥11,000 fee) - costs you money, nope

If you invest ¥50,000/mo, you earn:
¥3,000/year with basic (0.5%)
¥2,300/year with gold (0.75% - ¥2,200 fee) - gold is worse than basic
-¥5000/year with preimum (1% - ¥11,000 fee) - costs you money, nope

I'd stick with the basic card, because the Gold card at best is going to earn you a couple of hundred yen, and at worst is going to cost you money.

The next question is, would you pay ¥5000/year to not have to deal with the hassle of setting things up and keeping it running? Because in that case, not using a credit card for investing at all would be a better use of your time.

[captainspoke]

...
The next question is, would you pay ¥5000/year to not have to deal with the hassle of setting things up and keeping it running? Because in that case, not using a credit card for investing at all would be a better use of your time.

This!

[zeroshiki]

Setting up the card to do Tsumitate takes the same amount of time as setting up money sweep and doing bank transfer Tsumitate. I recommend anything that's set and forget and having it be part of your CC bill is quite attractive versus making sure your Rakuten Bank account is filled up every month.

[adamu]

Setting up the card to do Tsumitate takes the same amount of time as setting up money sweep and doing bank transfer Tsumitate.

I think it takes quite a lot more time. You have the added confusion of the card payment setting cut off date, and you have to deal with fixing it if the card details change. You also have fewer options to use points and bonus payments when paying by card.

[Tony]

Setting up the card to do Tsumitate takes the same amount of time as setting up money sweep and doing bank transfer Tsumitate. I recommend anything that's set and forget and having it be part of your CC bill is quite attractive versus making sure your Rakuten Bank account is filled up every month.

Unless you have a middle name ...

[adamu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBSx8GQw57g