Experts Teach the Best Way to Accumulate Points with Having Two Jobs
You can benefit if you know what you are doing! Rakuten" is the leader, "V" has merged with T Point, and "d" is strong in carrier payments, followed by "Ponta" and "PayPay".
“According to the ‘Household Budget Survey Report’ (2023 edition) by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the average monthly consumption expenditure for households with two or more people is approximately 300,000 yen. Utilizing a credit card that accumulates V points for expenses such as food and utilities, it’s calculated that nearly 7,000 points per month (※Note) can be redeemed. Just by starting ‘point activities’ (‘Poi-katsu’), one can enjoy such benefits.”
This passionate speech comes from Mr. Taiki Yorifuji, representative and financial consultant at Money & You.
The domestic issuance of points for this fiscal year is expected to exceed an incredible 20 trillion yen, demonstrating a thriving “points market.”
On April 22nd, Culture Convenience Club (CCC), which operates TSUTAYA among others, and SMBC Group, under which Mitsui Sumitomo Bank belongs, integrated their respective T points and V points. This merger created a colossal points system used by Japan’s largest user base of 154 million people, a recent and memorable event.
Competing against this, the “Big Five Points” now include Rakuten Point, d Point, Ponta Point, and PayPay Point, each vying for dominance (refer to Table 1).
Speaking on market trends in the mobile and communications sectors is Hana Ishiguro, a researcher at MMD Institute.
“Not only do these Big Five points accrue when shopping, but they also expand into various services such as telecommunications, securities, insurance, and electricity, forming economic spheres. They conduct extensive campaigns to increase redemption rates, fiercely competing to retain users year by year.”
Point activities are truly entering a new era. So, among the Big Five points, which one should you choose, and which economic sphere’s services offer the best benefits? Let’s explain each one’s characteristics.
Among the Big Five points, except for V Point, all are integrated with mobile carriers. Rakuten Point, which received the highest support at 38.3% in MMD Institute’s ’24 March Point Activity Awareness Survey’, is also linked with Rakuten Mobile,” continued Mr. Ishiguro.
“Rakuten operates Rakuten Ichiba, an e-commerce site second in scale only to Amazon, and has established a style where using Rakuten Card for payments there increases the redemption rate from the usual 1%. While earning points from shopping is standard, Rakuten was likely the first to link this with a credit card, leading the charge in market share competition.”
d Point and Ponta Point offer high redemption rates when paying mobile carrier fees, with d Point potentially offering up to 10 times and Ponta Point up to 3 times the redemption compared to Rakuten Point.
According to Takahito Kikuchi, representative of the portal site ‘Poi-Tan’, which disseminates information about point activities, they are striving to differentiate themselves not only in mobile bill payments but also in other aspects.
“KDDI, which collaborates with Ponta Point, announced its acquisition of the major convenience store chain Lawson in February. This strategic move aims to associate Ponta = Lawson in consumers’ minds.”
Assuming hypothetical expenses, food purchases are made at stores eligible for 7% smartphone touch payment, electricity uses V Point Denki with a 3% redemption rate, and all other expenses are paid with Mitsui Sumitomo Card.
