RetireJapan

So I've been in Japan for years, but never managed to get anyone to approve a credit card for me. Rejected for a Saison card, Rakuten card (when I applied for a bank account at same time), AMEX, etc... These were occasional applications separated by years, not all at the same time.

It was never a big problem, as my wife (Japanese) could get credit cards too easily. The most recent one (~5 years ago) she even got completely accidentally. While trying to figure out why AMEX Japan rejected my application (done with help from their staff over the phone to try to make everything as smooth as possible), she looked through the online application process to see what the steps were. About 2 minutes into it she said: "oh whoops, I clicked next too many times, I've already been approved and the credit card will be arriving in a few days".

So now I'm using a family card off my wife's main AMEX account, with my name on it. It's fine, but I have to transfer money into her account to pay for it, and I'd actually like to build credit.

After the last rejection, I thought about getting a JICC report, but the payment process would only accept a credit card with my name on it (NOT a family card with my name on it). Ridiculous. The only other option was a physical application paper sent in with a postal money order, and I couldn't be bothered.

Now the current card we use is expiring this fall, so I decided to get a JICC report and figure out what's up once and for all. Thankfully, they accept any credit card now, so it was painless. Used my gold driver's license and (permanent) residence card for ID. All the other info is very stable. Phone number unchanged since 2006, postal code unchanged since 2015, birthday and name in the report correct (both katakana and alphabet alternatives with/without middle name are all accurate).

But, the report found absolutely nothing. It's completely empty.

This is so strange, because I've had a car loan (from the dealer) since 2019, and a house loan from a regular bank since 2015, both in my name, exactly as listed in the report.

Sooooo... now what?

I honestly don't know what to do if it can't find me at all. I'm tempted to take this report to the bank and see if they have any idea why my mortgage doesn't show up, you never know, they might have seen it before.

Another option would be to apply for a credit card through Rakuten again. I was finally able to get a bank account opened (by not selecting the option for account + credit card at the same time), and have a Rakuten securities account for NISA... but at the same time, I thought savings/investments were not taken into account for credit card applications? Edit: ALso, my salary has gone up a lot since the last application, so I could try again at AMEX, but again I thought that was not really taken into account.

My preference would be to get a new AMEX in my name, which is what we currently use so I could transfer the points over, but I'm guessing it'll be impossible with the blank JICC report. Would applying for a gold card, signaling a willingness to pay the higher fee, help grease the gears?

Any other ideas?

Step 1: Pull from the other two credit agencies.

the Association's Personal Credit Information Center
Credit Information Center Corp. (CIC)

https://www.zenginkyo.or.jp/en/pcic/app ... pendix-01/

It might be the infamous 'middle name' syndrome. My wife (non-Japanese resident) does have a credit card, but we applied many times for a JAL family one, and she was turned down numerous times, it turns out that her credit record/history was under her full name not her first and family name. As soon as that was sorted out, they gave us a card for her.

The same thing happened to me when I was applying for a mortgage and getting my credit report from JICC. The problem was exactly what someone suggested in an earlier thread, my name did not match the report. I have a middle name as well, but the katakana at JICC and what I was using to try to get the report did not match. I never quite found out why, but I was able to get the report after I tried several combinations of my name in Katakana. However, I also would second the earlier response of getting it from the other two places. I did not have the same problem there. It was quite the frustrating process to get my name correct.

Thanks everyone, I do have a middle name, but the report shows that it searched for variations with the middle name and without, and they seem to match what I've used previously. The katakana name doesn't have my middle name, but that's also pretty standard for me (that's how it is on any of my IDs that are in Katakana). I'll have to try the other organizations and see what they find. I'll also try throwing in more types of ID if it supports it...

Probably the "easiest" way will be to somehow get hold of an insider at a company who can approve your application.

Does you employer have a scheme, for example?

I am not sure where you are located, but getting a report from CIC in Shinjuku in Tokyo was quite easy, if you can visit them. When I had the problem with my JICC report being blank, my real estate agent advised me to go to CIC directly the next day, and I was able to get my report the same day. And it showed all my credit cards etc. that did not show up in the JICC report.

Thanks both, but unfortunately I'm in Kyushu so a little far from Shinjuku, and I work for an international company that has an official branch in Japan, but no scheme or anything. I _thought_ I had an insider at AMEX, as we were recommended to contact someone and given their business card, and they helped me fill out the paper application which they said would have more chance of success. But that clearly didn't work.

So an attempt with CIC does seem like the only possible next step, though I'm considering checking with the bank that has my mortgage to double check what information they have for it.