Good morning. It’s まさきん.
A junior colleague at work asked me about Rakuten Card recently. As it happens, I was already looking into the details of the sign-up campaign, so today I want to lay out what I found.
What type of campaign this is
Going by the campaign types I sorted out before, this one falls under the new-contract perk category — the kind designed to push you toward signing up in the first place.
It’s not like Rakuten Mobile’s MNP switching perks, and it’s not a combination-type deal where you need to bundle other services either. You just sign up and use the card a set number of times. The mechanics feel pretty simple.
The breakdown of the 5,000 points, and how you receive them
The 5,000-point reward comes in 2 stages. First, there’s a 2,000-point sign-up bonus. Once your card arrives and you register with Rakuten e-NAVI, it looks like you’ll get it within a few days.
The remaining 3,000 points are a usage bonus. You need to use the card at least 3 times by the end of the month following the month you applied. Setting up automatic bank withdrawal by the deadline is also a requirement. Once you’ve met both, the points are apparently credited around the end of the following month.
The eligible cards are the standard Rakuten Card and the Rakuten PINK Card — both cards with no annual fee, ever. Higher-tier cards like Gold or Premium seem to be excluded from this campaign.
The 5,000 points aren’t paid out all at once, the way a 5,000-yen gift certificate would be. It’s worth remembering that they’re split into 2 stages, each credited at a different time.
- 2,000-point sign-up bonus: credited about a few days after you register with Rakuten e-NAVI
- 3,000-point usage bonus: credited around the end of the following month, once you’ve met both the 3-use requirement and the automatic-withdrawal setup
Along the same lines as Rakuten Card, you can apply this same thinking to your phone bill too. You can also sign up for Rakuten Mobile through my referral, and switching your number over gets you up to 14,000 points. If you haven’t looked into it yet, it’s worth a peek.
Clicking this opens the Rakuten login page. Once you log in, you’ll see the campaign details.
What I found a little confusing
What I found confusing were the exclusion conditions. If you already have a Rakuten Card, you’re not eligible. People who are mid-application or waiting for their card to arrive apparently get the same treatment.
There’s also a deadline for claiming the sign-up bonus. You need to register with Rakuten e-NAVI after your card arrives, and the deadline is the end of the month that falls 7 months after your contract starts. Forget it, and you might lose the bonus entirely.
The usage bonus has some quietly fussy conditions too. You need both the 3 uses and the automatic bank withdrawal setup — meeting just one of the two apparently doesn’t qualify you for the reward.
If you’ve held a Rakuten Card in the past, you’re apparently excluded as well. For both the sign-up bonus and the usage bonus, it seems like your history gets checked. This really is positioned as a perk aimed at first-time applicants.
Things worth checking before you apply
Here’s a summary of the points worth checking before you apply.
First, it’s reassuring to double-check whether you’ve ever made a Rakuten Card before. It’s surprisingly easy to forget.
The higher-tier cards might be tempting, but this campaign only covers the standard card and the Rakuten PINK Card. I’d say the safe move is to get the reward with an eligible card first.
In our house, we put a lot of value on consolidating down to one main card. I’ve written more about this in why consolidating to one main card makes household finances easier. If you’re making a new card, it’s worth thinking about whether this could become that one main card.
Wrapping up
Rakuten Card’s new sign-up bonus breaks down into 2 stages: 2,000 points and 3,000 points. Add them together, and that’s 5,000 points available at any time.
That said, the exclusion conditions turned out to be more detailed than I expected. If you already have a card, or have held one in the past, it’s worth being careful.
The conditions and amounts could change going forward. Before applying, please make sure to check the official site for the latest information.
Just like with Rakuten Card, you can sign up for Rakuten Mobile through a referral too. Switching over while keeping your existing number gets you up to 14,000 points. If you’re ever reviewing your family’s phone lines, it’s worth checking this out as well.
Clicking this opens the Rakuten login page. Once you log in, you’ll see the campaign details.
This article contains affiliate advertising. If you sign up for a product or service through a link on this site, we may receive compensation from the partner company. The site operator is also an employee of Rakuten Group and may receive compensation through an employee referral program. The content and opinions here are based on the operator’s own experience and research regardless of any advertising relationship, but please read with the above in mind. See the Disclaimer & Affiliate Disclosure for details. Disclaimer & Affiliate Disclosure
This article includes machine-translated content. Please check the official Rakuten Mobile multilingual page for exact terms.
If you have concerns about Rakuten Mobile coverage or signal quality, you can consult through the official signal improvement request form .
