Recommended by Experts! The “Ultimate Points-Earning Strategy” to Survive an Era of Rising Inflation
[Part 2] Get 100,000 Yen Back a Year Just by Taking Walks, Watching Videos, and Playing Games
“Point-earning activities” refer to the practice of earning points through everyday shopping and smartphone use to earn extra spending money or save money.In this issue, based on advice from three “point-earning experts” and our magazine’s list of “The 30 Ultimate Point-Earning Strategies” (below), we’d like to introduce ways to use point-earning activities to survive in this era of inflation.
“For beginners, start by learning the priorities of ‘poi-katsu.’ I recommend: ① Choosing a credit card with a high reward rate → ② Registering for mobile payment services → ③ Downloading points apps → ④ Using points websites → ⑤ Managing your points,” says Mr. Hashimoto.
Once you’ve set up a system to earn points on your daily payments by combining high-reward credit cards and mobile payment services, move on to step ③: downloading points apps. Points apps include “walking-based” apps where you simply take a walk, and “video-viewing-based” apps where you just watch videos.
Earn as many as 60,000 points in one go
“For ‘walking-type’ apps, there are many options—such as ‘Rakuten Healthcare,’ ‘Torima,’ ‘Ojipo,’ ‘Moneywalk,’ and ‘Sugi-Support Walk+’—that let you earn points worth tens to hundreds of yen based on your daily step count.‘Rakuten Check’ is a unique app that lets you earn points or enter a lottery just by visiting participating stores.
For video-watching apps, I recommend ‘R Channel,’ ‘auShort,’ and ‘V FAST Channel.’ With all of them, you can earn several hundred points a month just by watching designated videos.“With ‘TikTok Lite,’ you can earn a few yen worth of points just by logging in every day, not just by watching videos,” says Takahito Kikuchi, CEO of the point exchange service “Poi-Tan.”
“If you play designated games through services like ‘GetMoney!’ or ‘Poikoro,’ you can also earn points worth tens of yen when you clear the first stage, for example,” he adds.
The methods introduced so far are ways to earn points by making everyday payments or utilizing spare moments. While all of these can add up to a significant amount if you save steadily, the amount earned per instance is small. On the other hand, if you use a points site (Option ④) when signing up for fixed-cost services, earning tens of thousands of yen worth of points in one go is not out of the question.
“There are many different sites out there, but for beginners, the major ones like ‘Hapitas’ and ‘Moppy’ are more than enough. These points sites offer countless deals, such as ‘Earn tens of thousands of points by switching your smartphone or internet service provider.’
For example, on Moppy (as of June 9), you can earn 60,000 points by signing up for a new ‘au Hikari’ internet service. However, you must continue using the service for eight months. Looking at it another way, you can simply use the service for eight months, then switch to another provider using the points site’s campaign.“This is by far a better deal than signing up through the official website. Since this technique can also be applied to utilities like electricity and gas, it’s a major boost to your points-earning activities,” says Mr. Hashimoto (mentioned earlier).
Points sites also offer deals for opening credit cards, some of which are worth over 10,000 points, but caution is needed as annual fees can be high. You should only apply through a points site if there’s a deal available for the credit card you selected in Step 1.
Master the Cycle of Growth
You can also grow the points you’ve collected this way through ⑤ Point Management.
“Rakuten Points, V Points, PayPay Points, and others can be invested directly within the app without converting them to cash. When you deposit your points into a plan of your choice, their value fluctuates in real time based on actual stock prices and the performance of mutual funds.
There’s also ‘point investing,’ where you use points to purchase actual financial products and make genuine investments; however, this requires opening a securities account, which can be difficult for beginners, and any profits are subject to taxation. On the other hand, point investment doesn’t require a securities account and, as of now, isn’t subject to taxation” (ibid.)
Save steadily and effortlessly in your daily life, earn big occasionally through offers on points sites, and grow your points with a single tap in the app. Once you get the hang of this cycle, your points will keep growing without any extra effort. Please refer to the list below, “30 Ultimate Points-Earning Strategies Recommended by Experts,” and take that first step.
From the June 26 & July 3, 2026, combined issue of *FRIDAY*