Which Japanese carriers officially accept bank transfer, debit, or convenience-store payment instead of a credit card, by carrier, from official sources.
This covers all 25 carriers we checked for payment methods — not only the ones confirmed to accept foreign residents. Whether a carrier accepts foreign residents at all is a separate question; see the resident SIM ranking for that.
| Carrier | Credit card | Debit card | Bank transfer | Convenience store | Without a credit card? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daredemo Mobile | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Daredemo Sumaho | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sunsyscon | No | Not stated | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| TONE Mobile | Yes | Not stated | Yes | Not stated | Yes, with conditions |
| Nihon Tsushin SIM | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| IIJmio | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| mineo | Yes | Not stated | No | No | Not stated |
| AEON Mobile | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| HIS Mobile | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| NURO Mobile | Yes | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| BB.excite Mobile | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| BIGLOBE Mobile | Yes | Not stated | No | Not stated | Not stated |
| y.u mobile | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| LIBMO | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| QT Mobile | Yes | No | No | Not stated | Not stated |
| J:COM Mobile | Yes | No | No | Not stated | Not stated |
| LinksMate | Yes | No | No | No | Yes, with conditions |
| DTI SIM | Yes | Not stated | No | Not stated | Not stated |
| Rocket Mobile | Yes | Not stated | No | Not stated | Not stated |
| ahamo | Yes | Not stated | Yes | Not stated | Yes |
| povo2.0 | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| LINEMO | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Yes |
| UQ mobile | Yes | Not stated | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Y!mobile | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Rakuten Mobile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Yes |
Linked brand pages exist only for carriers confirmed to accept foreign residents in our resident ranking; the rest are listed here without a link.
Among the 25 carriers we checked, Daredemo Mobile, Daredemo Sumaho, Sunsyscon, Nihon Tsushin SIM, ahamo, povo2.0, LINEMO, UQ mobile, Y!mobile, Rakuten Mobile officially confirm at least one non-credit-card payment method (bank transfer, debit, or convenience-store payment).
It's a common Japanese payment method where you pay a bill in cash or by card at a convenience store register (7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Lawson, and similar chains), using a payment slip or barcode the carrier issues. It doesn't require a bank account or credit card, but it's usually for ongoing monthly bills rather than the very first sign-up step.
No — we track them separately because carriers do. A debit card draws directly from your bank balance and often doesn't require the credit check or Japanese credit history a credit card application can involve, but not every carrier that takes credit cards also takes debit cards, so check the specific row for your carrier.
Not necessarily. "Not stated" means we could not find the carrier's official site addressing non-credit-card payment either way — it may simply not advertise it. We only mark a carrier "Yes" when its own official page confirms a specific alternative, and "No" only when the carrier explicitly limits payment to credit cards.