The Smart Shopper’s Guide to Free Credit Cards Across Different Ecosystems

Is It Beneficial to Use Different Economic Spheres Separately?

In August this year, shocking news hit the credit card industry.

“The annual fee for the ‘Marriott Bonvoy American Express Premium Card’ (commonly called MBA) was announced to increase from ¥49,500 to ¥82,500—an increase of over ¥30,000—and the conditions to earn the previously key benefit of free stays at Marriott hotels will also become stricter. With the appeal of the MBA, previously a representative of beneficial paid credit cards, declining, consumers are increasingly concerned that paid cards may face a chain of worsening changes, boosting interest in free credit cards instead,” says financial planner Yoshio Akiyama.

Still, among the many free credit cards with no annual or enrollment fees, which one should you choose? “It’s beneficial to use them according to economic spheres,” says financial writer Seita Ikeda.

An economic sphere refers to an economic system where a single corporate group links its services and offers shared point systems, among other benefits. The four spheres to watch are: Rakuten Group’s “Rakuten Economic Sphere” (Rakuten Points), SoftBank Group’s “PayPay Economic Sphere” (PayPay Points), KDDI’s “au Economic Sphere” (Ponta Points), and SMBC Group’s “V Points Economic Sphere” (V Points).

“If you frequently use services like Rakuten Mobile or Rakuten Ichiba, the ‘Rakuten Card’ is the obvious choice. Despite having no annual fee, its basic return rate is a high 1%, and purchases on Rakuten Ichiba can yield over 3% in points. Moreover, it supports credit card-based investment accumulation at Rakuten Securities, allowing points on investments through the new NISA. For drivers, partner gas stations like ENEOS offer an extra 1 point per 2 liters in addition to the base 1%, and Cosmo Oil gives 1 point per 200 yen spent, making it a strong option for car users,” says Ikeda.

If your mobile carrier is au or UQ Mobile, issuing an ‘au PAY Card’ could also be beneficial. In addition to the 1% base return rate, au users can aim for a maximum 10% return on purchases through au PAY Market.

“However, to maximize returns with the ‘Rakuten Card’ or ‘au PAY Card,’ you need to use multiple services or eligible stores and meet complex conditions. In that regard, the PayPay Economic Sphere’s ‘PayPay Card’ is much simpler. It increases the PayPay return rate by 0.5%. There’s also a system called ‘PayPay Step’ that can further boost returns based on usage, but the effort to meet the conditions generally isn’t worth it, so you can largely ignore it,” he adds.

The representative card of the V Points Economic Sphere is the ‘Mitsui Sumitomo Card (NL),’ with a base return rate of 0.5%, lower than other cards. However, using touch payments at eligible stores like 7-Eleven, Lawson, or McDonald’s can boost the return rate to 7%. SMBC Group has a capital and business partnership with SBI Securities, so the card can also be used for credit card-based investment accumulation there.

“The premium ‘Mitsui Sumitomo Card Gold (NL)’ has an annual fee of ¥5,500, but if you spend ¥1,000,000 annually, the annual fee will be waived forever from the following year. Plus, you’ll receive 10,000 points for spending over ¥1,000,000, effectively raising the return rate to 1.5%. While ¥1,000,000 may seem like a high threshold, paying rent and living expenses with this card can make it surprisingly easy to achieve,” says Akiyama.

Second part: [Depending on how you use it, you could earn over 20% return!? The Ultimate Study of “Free Annual Fee Credit Cards”]

From the October 17, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”