Card Issuance × Point Activity: The Top Offers, Up to 500,000 Yen/Year

Strategy by theme Published：2026-05-30 12 min read

Why card issuance is the strongest offer

Credit-card issuance is the overwhelmingly highest-paying point-activity category. 5,000–30,000 yen per offer, and ultra-premium cards can exceed 50,000.

Issue "annual-fee-free cards" at a pace of one a month, and that alone yields 10,000–20,000 yen a month in earnings. Six in half a year is 60,000–120,000 yen. Factor in annual-fee cards, and advanced players can pull over 500,000 yen a year.

3 rules to avoid multi-application rejections

The biggest pitfall in card offers is "cascade rejection from multiple applications." Apply for 3 or more in a month and every card company's screening tightens at once.

Stick strictly to one a monthThis alone erases multi-application risk. 12 a year, 6 in half a year, is plenty.
Spread out the card issuersApplying for "Mitsui Sumitomo NL" and "Olive" in the same month is out (same issuer). Spread it: Mitsui Sumitomo NL → Epos next month → JCB the month after.
If rejected, rest for half a yearConsecutive applications stay on file at CIC for 6 months. If one falls, halt new applications for 6 months from that point to reset the record.

Check your own credit data at CIC

For anyone seriously issuing 12+ cards a year, checking your own credit data at CIC (the designated credit information agency) is an essential skill.

Disclosure request: same-day disclosure for 1,000 yen via the CIC official site
What to check: "application info" (the last 6 months of applications), "contract info" (a list of issued cards), "File D" (delinquency / debt-restructuring info)
With 6 or more lines of application info, screening tends to tighten
Disclosing once every 2–3 months to grasp your status is the advanced player's habit

Optimizing the issuance order

📋

The iron rule is to proceed "easiest-to-approve → hardest." Get rejected on a hard card first and that rejection record stays on file, affecting screening for the cards that follow.

Recommended order (annual-fee-free cards)

Rakuten Card (easiest to pass)
Epos Card (next easiest)
Mitsui Sumitomo Card (NL)
JCB Card W
Aeon Card
Life Card
Saison Card

Advanced (annual fee · high payout)

Amex Gold Preferred (30,000–50,000 yen)
Mitsui Sumitomo Card Gold (NL)
JCB Gold
Diners Club

Card-issuance cashback by point site

For the same card, cashback differs 1.5–2× depending on the point site. Comparing on Pointnavi every time is the iron rule.

Card	Moppy	Hapitas	PointIncome
Rakuten Card	8,000–12,000	8,000–12,000	8,000–10,000
Mitsui Sumitomo NL	8,000–13,000	7,000–10,000	7,000–9,000
Epos Card	6,000–10,000	7,000–10,000	6,000–9,000
JCB W	5,000–8,000	4,000–7,000	4,000–6,000
Amex Gold	25,000–35,000	20,000–30,000	20,000–30,000

※ Figures are reference values as of May 2026. They shift monthly, so always check on Pointnavi before applying.

10 recommended cards for 2026

Rakuten Card: easy to pass + a point-activity staple. Your first card
Mitsui Sumitomo Card (NL): the go-to for 7% back at convenience stores and McDonald's
Epos Card: 10% off at Marui, free overseas travel insurance included
JCB Card W: 1% cashback, under-39s only (top tier among fee-free cards)
Aeon Card Select: 5% back across Aeon group, WAON built in
Mitsui Sumitomo Card Gold (NL): 1M yen/year of use makes the annual fee permanently free + 10,000 pt back
Amex Green: status + subscription-style annual fee (1,100 yen/month)
Amex Gold Preferred: popular as an ultra-high-payout point offer
JCB Gold: generous JCB travel insurance, airport lounges
Saison Platinum Business Amex: an SPG-line platinum for sole proprietors

Typical reasons offers aren't approved

① Cookie expired

Accessing the card application page directly, or applying via another page after clicking the offer. You must complete it within a single session from the point-site link.

② You already held the card before joining

On "new-members-only" offers, you're excluded if you've issued that card before. Family cards are often treated as out of scope too.

③ Forgot to enter the campaign code

Without the card company's own campaign code, the site's new-member campaign won't apply. Be sure to enter the code specified on the point-offer page.

④ Rejected during the application-to-issuance window

A failed screening means zero credit, of course. A CIC-aware application pace matters.

⑤ Canceling right after applying

Many offers require "issuance + holding for 30+ days." You need to keep it at least 1–3 months.

FAQ

Do card applications really pass screening?

With 2M+ yen income + clean credit data + a disciplined pace, 80%+ pass. Typical failures: "heavy borrowing elsewhere," "past delinquency," "6+ applications on file."

Does not having a card hurt screening?

The opposite. "Holding zero cards" means "no credit history (kurehisu)," which tends to make the first screening stricter. The standard play is: issue a Rakuten Card first → use it for half a year → build credit history.

When should I cancel?

Safest is after the offer is confirmed (often 1–3 months) plus another 1–2 months of resting. Canceling immediately risks the offer being voided on "suspected fraudulent use."

I never want to pay an annual fee

For "first-year-free" cards, canceling before the year is up lets you take the offer reward with no fee. But there's a risk the offer is voided over fraud suspicion, so keeping it to 1–2 a year is safe.

This article was written from publicly available information on each point site as of May 2026. Cashback rates, campaign terms, and redemption rules can change without notice — always check each site's official page for the latest. This site uses each point site's referral program, but going through a referral link never changes the rate you receive.