Japan saw a growth of credit card purchase volume to 20.7 trillion yen last year which is 5.5% up from 2002 results. Still, the share of credit cards among total purchases is a meager 7% as opposed to 25% in the US.

Now credit card issuers are trying to set their foot in the over-60s market. This population category has savings of about 23.6 million yen, which is seven times as much as an average working person has.

 

The use of credit cards helps businesses to slash costs, but the disadvantage is that retailers dislike waiting for 30 days to get cash from a credit card purchase.

 

Another threat to the credit card business in Japan comes from cashless payments introduced by a number of companies like Tokyo-based parking lot operator Park 24 and Kanachu Hire taxi firm that are currently testing payments via i-mode cell phones.