Getting a corporate credit card in Japan

[curwenx]

Hi,

Does anyone here have any experience with getting a corporate credit card in Japan?

I have just set up a Kabushiki Kaisha with a friend of mine with a capital of 1 mill.

I am the representative director, and I have permanent residency and several personal Japanese cards.

I sent applications to four different companies, and so far three have been rejected, so I'm getting a bit nervous.

If someone has tips on companies to avoid and companies that may be Gaijin friendly, it would be much appreciated.

[不良外人]

Hi,

Does anyone here have any experience with getting a corporate credit card in Japan?

I have just set up a Kabushiki Kaisha with a friend of mine with a capital of 1 mill.

I am the representative director, and I have permanent residency and several personal Japanese cards.

I sent applications to four different companies, and so far three have been rejected, so I'm getting a bit nervous.

If someone has tips on companies to avoid and companies that may be Gaijin friendly, it would be much appreciated.

Your best bet is to apply to the bank you use but, IMHO, you will not have much luck without several years of demonstrable successful trading. Even then, you will only receive a debit card, i.e. purchases fully repayable the following month.

[well_bicyclically]

Hi,

Does anyone here have any experience with getting a corporate credit card in Japan?

I have just set up a Kabushiki Kaisha with a friend of mine with a capital of 1 mill.

I am the representative director, and I have permanent residency and several personal Japanese cards.

I sent applications to four different companies, and so far three have been rejected, so I'm getting a bit nervous.

If someone has tips on companies to avoid and companies that may be Gaijin friendly, it would be much appreciated.

usually they come to you.... the sound you are hearing are the warning bells going off.... any business person looking for advice here must have just acquired a Smith franchise....

[curwenx]

What's a Smith Franchise?

A debit card would be ideal... but I haven't been able to find any corporate one. (Lifecard and Rakuten Bank seem to have private debit Visa/MC, but not business versions).

Also, far from all banks offer corporate credit cards, and afaik the actual bank and the issuing authority are always separate companies.

[jonathanb]

Your company is too new and the 1 mil capital is low.

Why not just set aside 1 of your personal cards for company use?

[kurogane]

Your company is too new and the 1 mil capital is low.

Why not just set aside 1 of your personal cards for company use?

Yeah, I thought the same thing.

No way a company even in North America would be looking at a capitalisation of $10,000 as an attractive prospect.

[curwenx]

Connecting a personal card to our corporate account won't look good on paper, and I'm pretty sure the bank wouldn't even allow it. I can use a personal card to pay for stuff on behalf of the company and then get reimbursed from the company later on of course, which is what I am doing now. Having a corporate card would save on the paperwork.

However, the real reason I'm applying for the card is to link it to our corporate paypal account. Without a card linked and verified, there are severe limits on how much money can be withdrawn from the paypal account. We were warned against using a personal card for things like that by our accountant.

I don't know about North America, but where I'm from there would be no problem in getting a corporate account with a Visa or MC debit card attached. (as I said, I haven't been able to find any corporate debit card. However Japanese CC's are sort of the similar: You have a fixed monthly limit and pay it off a month delayed)

[kurogane]

Hey,

I didn't mean you couldn't get one in North America, simply that the low level of capitalisation would be unattractive. I got an American Express corporate card in Canada 25 years ago with not much more than the capital you have.

I applaud your efforts, though, FWIW.

You would think banks would be a little more in tune with the low capital or start up costs required for internet based businesses, but that is part of the reason why Japan has been in the crapper for nigh on 20 years, and why so many start ups remain penny ante home brew businesses.


Here's a few random ideas:

Shinsei Bank (everybody seems to think them a touch more 20th century than the dinosaur leviathans);

also, what about American Express Japan????

Mind you, they are probably as Mafia like as their American parent company, so be very careful if you do get one.


Also, if you partner is Japanese, get him or her to do it.



Anyways, good luck.

[curwenx]

I applied for AmEx too, and I am still waiting for a reply (a positive sign, I suppose). They had an area in the application form where you could fill in your personal AmEx number too, which I also took as a good omen. Dunno about any mafia... but contrary to what seems to be the common opinion of gaijin from Japanese banking's perspective, I have no plans of running up a huge bill, donating massive sums of money to North Korea and then fleeing the country, so I think I will be fine

I looked into Shinsei too, but they do not have a corporate CC. I was initially planning to open our corporate account with Shinsei since I use them personally and share your opinion on them as less dinosaur-like. However it is only possible to do so at one of their offices (Nihonbashi), which I found oddly dinosaur-ish. Just opening a corporate bank account is an arduous process btw... you have to go through a series of checks and it takes about a week. This is just so that you can put _your_ money in _their_ bank.

If my partner were Japanese I would surely have let him send all the applications

[jonathanb]

Connecting a personal card to our corporate account won't look good on paper, and I'm pretty sure the bank wouldn't even allow it. I can use a personal card to pay for stuff on behalf of the company and then get reimbursed from the company later on of course, which is what I am doing now. Having a corporate card would save on the paperwork.

I don't mean 'connecting', whatever that means. Use one of your personal cards for company purchases, it's pretty straight forward.

However, the real reason I'm applying for the card is to link it to our corporate paypal account. Without a card linked and verified, there are severe limits on how much money can be withdrawn from the paypal account. We were warned against using a personal card for things like that by our accountant.

Yes, accountants will say it's better to have a business card. The reality it that some companies can't get one so you have to work around it for a few years. Nothing wrong with that at all as long as you have your receipts.

I don't know about North America, but where I'm from there would be no problem in getting a corporate account with a Visa or MC debit card attached. (as I said, I haven't been able to find any corporate debit card. However Japanese CC's are sort of the similar: You have a fixed monthly limit and pay it off a month delayed)

That's nice. Welcome to Japan.

[不良外人]

I don't mean 'connecting', whatever that means. Use one of your personal cards for company purchases, it's pretty straight forward.


Yes, accountants will say it's better to have a business card. The reality it that some companies can't get one so you have to work around it for a few years. Nothing wrong with that at all as long as you have your receipts.


That's nice. Welcome to Japan.

Yes to all of the above.
The last line in particular encompasses all that I was thinking. Beautifully put.

[ttokyo]

I think that it is not only because of your low capital, but also you are not interesting as a customer because the low turnover. Our company has a corporate contract with DC Card and they have issued several dozen cards to our staff. If you just want 'one' or 'two' cards, that might not be enough for them.
Also, company employees would use company cards for the occasional business trip or entertainment of customers, but not really run their purchases or correspondent accounts (Paypal) through it.

[curwenx]

I don't mean 'connecting', whatever that means. Use one of your personal cards for company purchases, it's pretty straight forward.

I meant to set the card up so that the monthly payment would be deducted directly from our corporate account.

As I said, I use my personal card currently: I pay in advance for something for the company, then have it reimbursed later. More paperwork, but not really a showstopper.

Yes, accountants will say it's better to have a business card. The reality it that some companies can't get one so you have to work around it for a few years. Nothing wrong with that at all as long as you have your receipts.

What I'm worried about is linking my personal card to our paypal corporate account: That is specifically what my accountant warned against.

I probably wasn't clear when I made this post: I'm not looking for advice on how to manage without a CC: That's what I'm doing now. I'm looking for advice on how to get one (for instance suggestions for companies that are startup/gaijin friendly, etc.) The majority of the advice seems to be "give up" - and assuming that comes from people who themselves have experience in similar situations that might just be what I will end up doing...

[curwenx]

I think that it is not only because of your low capital, but also you are not interesting as a customer because the low turnover. Our company has a corporate contract with DC Card and they have issued several dozen cards to our staff. If you just want 'one' or 'two' cards, that might not be enough for them.
Also, company employees would use company cards for the occasional business trip or entertainment of customers, but not really run their purchases or correspondent accounts (Paypal) through it.

I don't understand this logic: By the same logic I would not be interesting to any CC company as a private customer because of low turnover.

[jonathanb]

More paperwork, but not really a showstopper.

If all purchases are on one card then it's one simple monthly lump sum transaction, right? This can hardly be coud be called 'more paperwork'.

What I'm worried about is linking my personal card to our paypal corporate account: That is specifically what my accountant warned against.

You need not worry, I had a personal card linked to my verified company Paypal account for 6 years.

The majority of the advice seems to be "give up" - and assuming that comes from people who themselves have experience in similar situations that might just be what I will end up doing...

It's not 'give up', more accurately, it's wait and try again later. Start to establish good relations with several banking institutions, do monthly deposits ay each. that will also help if you ever need to borrow.

This will be my last post in this thread, good luck.

[ttokyo]

I don't understand this logic: By the same logic I would not be interesting to any CC company as a private customer because of low turnover.

Not if the conditions are different. The corporate cards we have are all 'gold' (overseas travel insurance etc.) and 'free of charge', while Citicard charges me Y 14,000 for the same privilege as a private customer (allthough I pay the fee with their accumulated points).

The most obvious thing would be to ask the bank where you have your corporate account, how to 'link' a credit card to it. Most larger banks have their own affiliated credit card companies.

[aunicamedia]

I did some research into your problem, and several people have run into the same issue as you. Apparently, it is very difficult to get a credit card in Japan, much less a business one because of the automated process they use to determine credit worthiness. They do not have access to foreign credit databases, such as those in the U.S. that provide your credit score; therefore, because you are not a native to Japan, have not had an established business for the required length of time, and are considered a credit risk, you will have to seek another avenue for credit. Since you are able to use your personal credit card, I would continue doing that until you can prove that your business can turn a profit, and that you will be remaining in Japan for a long length of time. Also, you should contact the major credit issuers, domestic and international, and ask them what you can do to get a business card in the future. Here is a website that has some good information http://www.directbanc.com Best of luck to you!

[curwenx]

Hey,

Thought I'd follow up with the latest news: I just received a Corporate AmEx gold today. It took a little over a month from I applied until I finally received the card. There was a space to put down my private amex number on the application form, so I guess it helps if you have a private one (I've had it for less than 6 months though).

One application is still pending: LifeCard (it was recommended to me as easy to get, but I guess we'll see.)

The other cards I applied for were all managed by various big banks (UFJ Nicos Visa, Citibank Diners, Mitsui Visa/Master etc.) and these were all rejected. My theory is that it is easier to get cards that are not directly associated with banks.