Which JCB card should you get? All 11 compared
A decision page for readers who have already settled on JCB and only need to pick the right card in the lineup. All 11 are compared here — 11 of them open to new applications, with annual fees of ¥0–¥27,500. The axis that actually decides it: annual fee against ordinary earning, plus any milestone bonus you would reach anyway.
Issued by JCB Co., Ltd. · 11 cards recorded, 11 open to new applications, 2 of them business products · verified 2026-08-16
Which one to get
If you want one answer, start with the JCB Card W — no annual fee and a 1% published base rate. If you already know what you want the card for, take the matching row instead.
| Use case | Card | Annual fee | Fee condition | Base rate | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best no-fee starting point | JCB Card WGeneral | Free | — | 1% | Strong no-fee JCB points card |
| Best paid card with a fee-waiver path | JCB General / Partner With PointGeneral | ¥1,375 | First year free · waiver available | 0.5% | Amazon-oriented earning |
| Best premium / travel tier | JCB PlatinumPlatinum | ¥27,500 | — | 0.5% | Concierge and Gourmet Benefit |
| Best specialist / co-brand | JCB Gold / Partner With PointGold | ¥11,000 | — | 0.5% | Amazon checkout with J-POINT; JCB credit-card accumulation; Gold-tier services |
| Best business option | JCB Biz ONE GeneralGeneral | Free | — | 1% | High no-fee earn for a single-user business card |
Each row is selected from the recorded data by rule — cheapest fee, a stated waiver, the highest published rate within a grade — not by editorial preference. Nothing here reflects how likely you are to be approved.
How to decide inside this lineup
5 rules apply to this lineup. Work down them in order — the first one usually settles it.
- Start with the strongest no-fee card, and move up only when a paid tier has a waiver you will actually reach, a milestone bonus you would hit anyway, or a recurring benefit worth more than its fee.
- Every card here earns J-POINT, so the rate is comparable across the lineup — but only once you fix a realistic value for one point in the redemption you would actually use.
- This lineup has more than one grade, so an upgrade is an arithmetic question: divide the extra annual fee by the extra published rate to get the spend that repays it, then add only the benefits and milestones you expect to use.
- 2 products here are business-focused and should be compared on their own terms — expense controls, employee cards, accounting integration and who is liable — not against consumer lifestyle perks.
- JCB Card R is a revolving-payment-only product. The headline rate is earned against interest you cannot avoid by paying the balance in full, so the advertised return is not comparable to the rest of this lineup.
Each rule is triggered by the recorded fees, grades, programmes and payment types rather than written per provider, so it changes when the lineup does.
Annual fees and what they really cost
4 of the 8 personal cards you can choose between here have no annual fee. The fee is the only cost you pay whether or not you use the card, so it is the first column to read.
| Card | Grade | Annual fee | Fee condition | Networks | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JCB Biz ONE General | General | Free | — | JCB | Open to new applications |
| JCB Card R | General | Free | — | JCB | Open to new applications |
| JCB Card S | General | Free | — | JCB | Open to new applications |
| JCB Card W | General | Free | — | JCB | Open to new applications |
| JCB Card W plus L | General | Free | — | JCB | Open to new applications |
| JCB LINDA | General | Free | Waiver available | JCB | Open to new applications |
| JCB General / Partner With Point | General | ¥1,375 | First year free · waiver available | JCB | Open to new applications |
| JCB Biz ONE Gold | Gold | ¥5,500 | First year free · waiver available | JCB | Open to new applications |
| JCB Gold | Gold | ¥11,000 | First year free | JCB | Open to new applications |
| JCB Gold / Partner With Point | Gold | ¥11,000 | — | JCB | Open to new applications |
| JCB Platinum | Platinum | ¥27,500 | — | JCB | Open to new applications |
A waiver or a free first year still means you pay the fee until the condition is met. Family cards, ETC cards and optional programmes can carry their own charges, which are not in this column — check the issuer page. All amounts include tax.
Earning rates and what they earn into
Every card here earns J-POINT, so the published rates in this table are directly comparable.
| Card | Base rate | Earns | Comparison-site range | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JCB Biz ONE General | 1% | J-POINT | — | Free |
| JCB Card R | 2% | J-POINT | — | Free |
| JCB Card S | 0.5% | J-POINT | 0.5%–10% | Free |
| JCB Card W | 1% | J-POINT | 1%–10.5% | Free |
| JCB Card W plus L | 1% | J-POINT | 1%–10.5% | Free |
| JCB LINDA | 0.5% | J-POINT | — | Free |
| JCB General / Partner With Point | 0.5% | J-POINT | — | ¥1,375 |
| JCB Biz ONE Gold | 1% | J-POINT | 1%–10.5% | ¥5,500 |
| JCB Gold | 0.5% | J-POINT | 0.5%–10% | ¥11,000 |
| JCB Gold / Partner With Point | 0.5% | J-POINT | — | ¥11,000 |
| JCB Platinum | 0.5% | J-POINT | 0.5%–10% | ¥27,500 |
The base rate is the figure the issuer publishes; where none is published the cell is blank rather than estimated. The comparison-site range is calculated by Kakaku.com under its own assumptions about redemption value and bonus conditions — it is a secondary signal, not an issuer claim.
Every card compared
All 11 cards, ordered by grade and then by fee, with what each is for and what to watch on it.
| Card | Annual fee | Base rate | Best for | Main edge | Caution / status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JCB Biz ONE GeneralGeneral | Free | 1% | High no-fee earn for a single-user business card | 2 points per ¥200, roughly 1% depending on redemption | No employee/additional cards; point redemption value varies |
| JCB Card RGeneral | Free | 2% | Higher points | Advertised 4x points | Revolving-payment-only card; interest can overwhelm rewards |
| JCB Card SGeneral | Free | 0.5% | Club Off-style dining/leisure/entertainment benefits | Partner and J-POINT Mall bonuses | Base value depends on redemption |
| JCB Card WGeneral | Free | 1% | Strong no-fee JCB points card | At least 2x standard JCB earning; partner/mall bonuses | New applications limited to age 39; exclusions and J-POINT conversion value matter |
| JCB Card W plus LGeneral | Free | 1% | W benefits plus lifestyle offers | W earning plus LINDA League benefits | Age limit; partner offers change |
| JCB LINDAGeneral | Free | 0.5% | Lifestyle and beauty offers | LINDA bonuses/benefits | Monthly maintenance fee conditions |
| JCB General / Partner With PointGeneral | ¥1,375 | 0.5% | Amazon-oriented earning | Amazon up to advertised multiplier; partner/mall bonuses | Not necessarily best value versus no-fee alternatives |
| JCB Biz ONE GoldGold | ¥5,500 | 1% | Low-fee business gold with 1% base-equivalent earn | 2 points per ¥200; J-POINT partner bonuses | No employee/additional cards; waiver excludes specified transactions |
| JCB GoldGold | ¥11,000 | 0.5% | Travel, dining and lounge package | Partner bonuses; invitation path to Gold The Premier | Insurance is generally use-conditional; benefit utilization needed |
| JCB Gold / Partner With PointGold | ¥11,000 | 0.5% | Amazon checkout with J-POINT; JCB credit-card accumulation; Gold-tier services | Amazon.co.jp up to 4x; JCB partner stores; eligible card accumulation up to 1.0% when non-accumulation monthly shopping is at least ¥50,000 | No invitation upgrade to JCB Gold The Premier/The Class from this PWP product; accumulation cap/conditions apply |
| JCB PlatinumPlatinum | ¥27,500 | 0.5% | Concierge and Gourmet Benefit | Partner bonuses | High fee; verify guest/lounge usage rules |
The last three columns are the English research record for each card. Signup campaigns are deliberately excluded — they are not standing value.
How the points actually work
Most of this lineup earns under one rule — J-POINT. What you actually receive is decided less by the headline rate than by the excluded transactions and the expiry below.
- How it is earned
- Monthly eligible card spend: 1 point per ¥200; card-specific multipliers may apply
- Bonus earning
- J-POINT partner stores; J-POINT Mall; eligible cards may receive a bonus for each ¥500,000 annual spend. JCB Card W/W plus L are excluded from the annual-spend bonus
- Eligible spend
- Ordinary eligible shopping aggregated monthly
- Excluded or reduced spend
- Annual fees, fees/interest, cash advances and issuer-designated transactions; securities accumulation follows separate rules
- Caps
- Partner registration, merchant and annual-spend rules differ by card; credit-card accumulation generally up to ¥100,000/month
- Expiry
- General 2 years; Gold 3 years; Gold The Premier/Platinum/The Class 5 years from award month
- Best redemption route
- 1 point≈¥1 routes or a high-value partner/mile route after checking the exchange chart
- What a point is worth
- Up to ¥1 per point depending on use
This block is shown only when most of the lineup really does earn under the same rule, so one card’s terms are never presented as the provider’s.
Benefits, and what switches them on
11 of these cards have a recorded insurance, lounge, family-card or eligibility term. What decides a benefit’s value is not whether it exists but what switches it on.
| Card | Insurance | Lounge | Family / ETC | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JCB Card W | Overseas travel and shopping cover subject to use/terms | — | Family/ETC available | 18–39; high-school students excluded |
| JCB Card W plus L | See official terms | — | Family/ETC available | 18–39; high-school students excluded |
| JCB Card S | See official terms | — | Family/ETC available | 18+; high-school students excluded |
| JCB LINDA | See official terms | — | See official page | 18+; high-school students excluded |
| JCB Card R | See official terms | — | See official page | 18+; high-school students excluded |
| JCB Biz ONE General | No core travel insurance highlighted | Fast digital issue and accounting links | No additional cards; one ETC card | Corporate representative or sole proprietor; user age 18+ |
| JCB General / Partner With Point | See official terms | — | Family/ETC available | 18+; high-school students excluded |
| JCB Biz ONE Gold | Shopping, cyber, smartphone protections | Domestic airport lounges | No additional cards; one ETC card | Corporate representative or sole proprietor; user age 20+ |
| JCB Gold | Overseas travel cover up to stated ¥100m subject to conditions | Domestic/overseas lounge services | Family/ETC available | 20+ with stable income |
| JCB Gold / Partner With Point | Overseas travel cover up to stated ¥100m subject to conditions | Domestic/overseas lounge services | Family/ETC available | 20+ with stable income |
| JCB Platinum | Premium travel/shopping cover subject to terms | Priority Pass; concierge | Family/ETC available | 25+ with stable income |
A blank cell means nothing was recorded, not that the benefit is absent. Travel insurance in Japan is often conditional on paying for part of the trip with the card, and lounge access usually caps visits and charges for guests — the activation rule is on the issuer page.
Upgrade maths: what a higher tier has to return
The published base rate does not rise as the fee does, so no amount of ordinary spending repays the difference. Only a waiver, a milestone or a benefit you use can justify it.
| From | Up to | Extra fee | Extra rate | Break-even spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JCB Card W | JCB General / Partner With Point | ¥1,375 | -0.5% | Rewards alone never repay it |
| JCB General / Partner With Point | JCB Gold | ¥9,625 | 0% | Rewards alone never repay it |
| JCB Gold | JCB Platinum | ¥16,500 | 0% | Rewards alone never repay it |
- Reward-only break-even spend
incremental annual fee ÷ incremental effective reward rateThe eligible spend at which the higher tier’s extra earning covers its extra fee, and nothing more.- Upgrade net value
incremental rewards + used credits + used benefits + family-card savings − incremental annual feeCount a credit or benefit only at the value you would actually redeem, not at its advertised value.- Milestone expected value
milestone benefit value × probability you reach the threshold without changing how you spendIf reaching the threshold requires new spending, the milestone is a cost, not a benefit.
These figures use the published base rate only — no merchant multipliers, milestones, insurance, lounge access or family-card savings. Adding spending you would not otherwise do always breaks the arithmetic.
Check these on the issuer page before applying
The tables above narrow the choice; only the issuer can settle it. Check these four things on the official page before you apply.
| What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Credit limit | Almost every issuer sets an individual limit after underwriting. Do not infer a usable limit from the card’s tier unless an official public range is stated. |
| Rewards limits | Check monthly and annual bonus caps, annual-spend thresholds, whether enrolment is required, and whether taxes, utilities, e-money charging, securities accumulation, fees or cash advances earn a reduced rate or nothing at all. |
| Benefit limits | Confirm what activates the insurance, who is covered, lounge visit and guest rules, reservation channels, blackout dates, and whether a benefit renews by calendar year, membership year or card anniversary. |
| Payment and overseas use | Verify the foreign transaction fee, cash-advance terms, installment and revolving settings, the accepted network, and mobile-wallet compatibility. |
Important cautions
This page is a comparison, not advice. These hold whichever card you pick.
- This is a comparison guide, not approval advice. Issuers decide eligibility and credit limits, and nothing here predicts either.
- Never increase spending to reach a points threshold or a fee waiver. Interest and unnecessary purchases overwhelm rewards quickly.
- Use a conservative point value. The same point is worth different amounts as a statement credit, as merchant spend, as miles or as a limited campaign reward.
- Invitation, campaign, insurance and lounge terms change. Re-check the official terms immediately before applying.
- If you are a foreign resident, confirm accepted identification, name and address matching, Japanese-language requirements and any bank-account condition directly with the issuer.
Common questions
Which JCB card should I get?
For most people the starting point is the JCB Card W — no annual fee and a 1% published base rate. Move up to the JCB Platinum (¥27,500 a year and a 0.5% published base rate) only when the extra fee is repaid by earning and by benefits you will genuinely use. JCB decides eligibility and credit limits, so check the current terms on the issuer page before you apply.
Is a paid JCB card worth the annual fee?
The published base rate does not rise with the fee here, so the extra fee cannot be earned back through ordinary spending. The only things that justify it are a waiver you will reach, a milestone you would hit anyway, and benefits you will genuinely use.
Do all JCB cards earn the same points?
Yes — every card in this lineup earns J-POINT. The earning unit, the excluded transactions and the expiry still differ by card, so compare the redemption you would use rather than the headline rate alone.
Does JCB offer a business card?
Yes — 2 of these are business products, and the lowest-cost one is the JCB Biz ONE General (no annual fee and a 1% published base rate). Compare them on expense controls, employee cards, accounting integration and liability rather than on consumer perks.
Sources and freshness
Everything on this page comes from the issuer’s own product and lineup pages, and from the points programme’s official pages, as checked on 2026-08-16.
- www.jcb.co.jp/ordercard/lineup/?3000_3010=1
- www.jcb.co.jp/ordercard/kojin_card/jcb_w.html
- www.jcb.co.jp/ordercard/kojin_card/jcb_w_plus_l.html
- www.jcb.co.jp/ordercard/kojin_card/os_card_s.html
- www.jcb.co.jp/ordercard/kojin_card/gold.html
- www.jcb.co.jp/ordercard/kojin_card/platinum.html
- www.jcb.co.jp/ordercard/kojin_card/pwp.html
- www.jcb.co.jp/ordercard/kojin_card/linda.html
- www.jcb.co.jp/ordercard/kojin_card/card_r.html
- www.jcb.co.jp/corporate/houjin/bizone.html
- www.jcb.co.jp/point/index.html
Card facts are from the research database as of 2026-08-16; the points and benefit records are from the 2026-08-17 pass. Fees, benefits, campaigns and application rules change without notice. If something here is wrong, tell us on the corrections page.