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Trouble with credit cards in Japan

oLUXo said:
Visa tends to work fine most of the time. I recommend having a few types just in case. I have three types on me at all times (american express, visa, and mastercard).
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This is what I do too.
hawaiianhawk said:
For myself, this is the first time BOA has failed, but there saying nothing is showing on their end as to why the cards are being declined and they see no transactions showing the hotel and restaurant have tried.. I've called twice and spoken with different operators and both have told me the same thing.
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If they aren’t seeing any transaction attempt at all, I wonder if the strip or chip is busted.
 
Acid Burn said:
If they aren’t seeing any transaction attempt at all, I wonder if the strip or chip is busted.
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If it worked in other places then I would still guess it's an operator error. Happens all the time with those strange cards the unwashed are carrying with them.
 
Hi Random - paying with a credit card is possible with the agency I use but incurs additional costs and I wouldn't do that with p4p anyway. Can't ask the hotel to front me cash as my credit card isn't working at the hotel, hence my problem. Likewise Zero I often thought about paying by credit card at p4p but the agency I use charges more than 2% additional to use a credit card so it's no benefit to me.
 
The card is fairly new since my last card the chip began to fail. I got this card about a month ago and everything was fine in Hawaii and when I first came to Japan it was fine. I'm thinking it's probably a Tennoji thing as my card was refused at the love hotel and restaurant and both seemed to use the same type of machine for credit cards. We'll see what happens when I go to Wakayama/Shirahama today.
 
Last time I went, the only time I had an issue with my BofA Visa was trying to use it at a love hotel. The machine basically denied it immediately without even trying. The bank wasn't even aware of an attempt made at the time. Never had any issues anywhere else.
 
Based on my guess and experiences having this issue very rarely here but often in China, I think even though some merchants believe they accept foreign cards but they actually can't process the transaction if it is a card issued outside of Japan. This also happens on various ATMs I try to get cash from on my credit card despite the logo on the machines displaying the valid networks. Or it's defined in the merchants bank not to accept specific BINs.

I've not had any issue with BOA cards (used in Maldives recently even though it was dormant a year). Penfed cards will not charge an atm fee, but will charge immediate interest which is insignificant if paid off when it posts.

Addition: One thing to be aware of, especially in that Odaiba shopping mall with restaurants, and across China is the sneaky DCC fees (dynamic currency conversion) which give the illusion of a 'convenient rate.' In reality, I've found this to be a minimum 3.5% and up to 7.5% above your credit card rates. You've got to refuse the transaction be processed in your own currency on the POS. Better just to tell them up front "Local currency only."

In China they take this to another level. The clerk is not trained to recognize it (a Visa and M/C violation on its own) and merchant banks automatically make the POS only display it a mere 3 seconds before it automatically defaults to your own currency with the DCC fees. I first noticed this in 2011, and it's actually a violation by the merchant which Visa and M/C require the option must be clearly provided to the cardholder. I remember having to consistently tell the IKEA clerk in China to quickly press the red cancel button before the screen's currency question disappeared and defaulted to their in house currency conversion.
 
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I thought it was bad enough that maybe Tennoji was a small, left in the dinosaur age town. Then I go to Wakayama where they don't even try to make an effort to run my Visa card, expression was "Oh no Visa, ummm." so again paid cash, lol
 
hawaiianhawk said:
Hi fellow Tagers,

I've never encountered any problems with my credit cards here in Japan; however, today here in Tennoji the hotel and the dining place I visited about 5 hours ago both tried and both my cards were denied after trying multiple times. I had to pay cash.

I called Bank of America to verify my card was ok and there were no holds or blocks on them and they confirmed it showed everything on their end was good. They asked that next time if it doesn't work, try to have the person manually punch in the card numbers, but employees here in Tennoji said their machines were not equipped to do a manual transmission.

Damn, I may have to cancel one of three visits with the women. I feel so bad if I have to do so after the receptionists went thru so much effort to convince 2 of 3 women to come in if possible and to go to a different location than where they were scheduled to work.

Anybody have any issues in Tennoji before with credit cards? Last year when I came I didn't only this time.

Any ideas?
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This may sound dumb and elementary, but are you calling your CC companies BEFORE your trip to alert them to your international travel and list the specific countries you're visiting so as to avoid any blocks? If not, this could most certainly be why a certain transaction is blocked, and after that the card will be flagged and cause you all sorts of problems.

I have a Citi Costco Visa card as my primary for overseas travel (awesome cashback), and then another Visa and Mastercard as back-up, and I call all three companies every time I travel to alert them a few days before my departure. And I also make it a habit to carry about $4k in U.S. dollars and yen, just in case anything happens with my credit cards. Just like with my guns, better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Your dick will thank you.
 
Yes, always do contact my credit card companies before I travel to Japan. This time when I went online BOA says it's no longer necessary to do so. They will just monitor cards from now on and contact customer if they think it is being fraudulently used. All my contact info is up to date but no notifications from them whatsoever. According to BOA everything is good and card is active on their end so shouldn't be experiencing any problems, but I am so hence don't know whats going on right now. I always bring about $3k USD in yen with me and $200-$300 US dollars as back up. I use yen to pay for hotels, etc. that take only cash payments (Kinosaki costed me 50000 yen for 2 day stay alone) and for small items like breakfast. Everything else I throw on my credit cards for miles or cash back. But staying here for 2 weeks or more, wanting to bring back omiyage for family and friends and have p4p funds for 2-3 escorts is not going to cut it on $3k USD in yen.
 
I don't know exactly what is going on here but a likely explanation is ....

Usually the company that captures the credit card transaction will route the transaction to the authorizer, which in this case may be BOA or their processing company. If for some reason they don't have an agreement, Visa and Mastercard each act as a gateway or authoriser of last resort. But for historical reasons Visa and Mastercard in Japan were/are each owned by local banks and have actively refused to do that.

(of course if could be travel blocked)
 
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Point on. Completely dicks that rather not pay interchange fee agreements or tie up resources of their dial-up LAN lines. What that don't realize is how much business the mom and pop merchants lose out to foreign money, but again maybe the intermediary banks could care less about their profits. Will the influx of foreign card denials for the Olympics open their eyes?
 
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Psd - not techie enough to understand that explanation, but card worked when I first came to Japan this trip in Kyoto at hotels and JR branch at Kansai airport, just not working in Tennoji right now. I'll find out tomorrow if things change when I get to Shirahama. If it works there then maybe processing machines they use in Tennoji are outdated or something
 
The travel alerts are entirely dependent on the individuals specific spending patterns. I never set them nor have changed my address to Japan. Person A spending pattern and demographic to person B may cause denial where the other gets no denial for 3 years. For me, personally it's out of pattern when it's (all online) payment services or 'high risk' SE Asian auction sites.
 
Thankfully I decided to stick with the agency I normally do cause I get enough satisfaction from their women vs. going to an indie like I was thinking of doing since I'm often criticized for not trying other companies. At least I get to play with 2 escorts vs close to the same price playing with only 1 indie. Eventually, if my dick lasts long enough and when oogles of funds become available, if ever, then I'll try an indie just to say I did.
 
I don't know what Tennoji is, but try using it at a low risk retailer like a health store or medical service center and see if you get denied. It's based largely on the merchant code and what that code classifies it as. Anything in the airport is also low risk.
 
split said:
I don't know what Tennoji is, but try using it at a low risk retailer like a health store or medical service center and see if you get denied. It's based largely on the merchant code and what that code classifies it as. Anything in the airport is also low risk.
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I might be wrong as Tennoji isn't exactly a unique term in Japan, but since he went to Wakayama next, it's probably Tennoji in Osaka, which is one of the more lively areas on the south side;)
 
Yes Random you are correct. I was in Tennoji in Osaka and cards got declined at a love hotel and a restaurant which never happened before.
 
Well the saga continues and I just give up. Moved to Shirahama now and card went through at small local hostel. Yippee problems solved, must have been a Tennoji issue. Then I go to purchase a 2 day bus pass, go to Adventure World, dine at a restaurant and all get declined. I'm dumbfounded. First time ever have issues.
 
And yes, some agencies do indeed process your credit card under a restaurant name, that's just a fact.
 
hawaiianhawk said:
Well the saga continues and I just give up. Moved to Shirahama now and card went through at small local hostel. Yippee problems solved, must have been a Tennoji issue. Then I go to purchase a 2 day bus pass, go to Adventure World, dine at a restaurant and all get declined. I'm dumbfounded. First time ever have issues.
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I’ve got to ask, why did you travel with a single credit card? I always have at least two when I go on a trip.
 
I always carry 2 cards but unfortunately from same company. Ones mileage, ones cash back.Just contacted them again and got same response from last two times I called. Both cards not working properly. Then I got into a discussion with the rep. When I rephrased my wording, he said its probably more accurate, but still on their end cards should be working. I phrased it as cards are not being "declined" as BOA has no log history of any attempts and thus didn't "decline" anything, but cards are not "registering" on the machines for some reason. 10% of the time, cards work, 90% they don't.

He told me next time I'm at the point of sale to call and they can help, but I mentioned that most Japanese people do not understand English so they would not know what the rep is trying to get them to do. I even asked at some business to input manually the number, but some said they can't do that?
 
hawaiianhawk said:
I always carry 2 cards but unfortunately from same company.
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Principles of redundancy. Study them.
 
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