Looking Back at My Credit Card History — How My Approach to Cashless Payments Evolved

I recently wrote about switching my primary payment method to the SBI Net Bank Debit Card Point+.

👉 Why I Ditched Platinum Preferred for a Debit Card

That got me thinking about all the main cards I've used over the years. When I laid them out chronologically, they turned into a neat timeline of how my relationship with cashless payments has evolved. Here's the full rundown.

Orico Card — The "Good Enough" Era

My very first main card was the Orico Card THE POINT.

No annual fee, 1% cashback. Back in the 2010s, my attitude was basically "Orico's fine, I guess..." The whole "loyalty ecosystem war" hadn't really kicked off yet, and most people — myself included — thought of credit cards as little more than a way to earn a modest 1% back on purchases.

As of 2026, I rarely use it, though it still comes out occasionally for campaigns or partner-store perks.

EPOS Gold — The Golden Age of Customizable Rewards

In the early 2020s, credit card companies started offering mutual fund purchases through card payments, and that's when my awareness of points and rewards shifted.

My entry point was the EPOS Card (EPOS Gold Card). By consistently investing through the linked tsumiki Securities, I eventually received an invitation to upgrade to the Gold tier — with the annual fee permanently waived. It became my new primary card.

The killer feature was the "Select Point-Up Shop" program. I registered Suica top-ups for a +1.5% bonus and funneled as many purchases as possible through Mobile Suica. At its peak, this setup delivered close to 3% cashback — genuinely impressive for the time.

That golden age didn't last, though. A policy change removed transit e-money top-ups from the point-up program, and the card's appeal dropped sharply. As of 2026, it's essentially dedicated to tsumiki Securities contributions.

Rakuten Card — Fully Embracing the Ecosystem

While never my primary card, I was fully invested in the Rakuten Card plus Rakuten Bank combo.

If you used Rakuten's services at all, the SPU (Super Point-Up) program was unavoidable, and I was diligent about maximizing those multipliers. Rakuten Mobile, Rakuten Hikari for broadband, Rakuten Securities conditions — I checked them all. Whenever the household needed something, I'd time my purchases around Rakuten Super Sale events on days ending in 0 or 5, routing even hometown tax donations through Rakuten. The points piled up impressively.

Over time, however, a steady stream of reward nerfs made the ecosystem less compelling. By 2026, the Rakuten Card has settled into a supporting role: household expenses and Rakuten-specific services.

Platinum Preferred — The Card That Blew Past My Annual Fee Resistance

The game-changer arrived around 2023: the Sumitomo Mitsui Platinum Preferred.

I'd always been wary of paying a hefty annual fee for a premium card, but 5% cashback on SBI Securities mutual fund purchases was staggering. The fund contributions alone covered the ¥33,000 annual fee with room to spare, and stacking campaigns and annual spending bonuses on top meant points accumulated rapidly.

The momentum of that era was something else entirely.

Then Olive Flexible Pay launched, accelerating the trend of consolidating banking, credit, and rewards into a single mobile-first experience.

As Olive gained traction, Platinum Preferred saw its own benefits scaled back. The value proposition gradually weakened to the point where the premium annual fee no longer felt justified. When I transitioned my primary payment to a debit card, I canceled Platinum Preferred entirely, shifting convenience-store purchases and SBI Securities contributions to Olive Flexible Pay.

Despite canceling it, the Platinum Preferred remains the card I credit with shaping my current approach: minimize cash, rely on credit cards registered in Google Wallet and various e-money services, and funnel every accumulated point into mutual fund investments. It was, in a sense, my mentor card.

Switching to Debit — Choosing Comfort Over "The Best"

Around 2025, my perspective on cashless payments started to shift.

• The burden of annual fees
• Repeated reward cutbacks
• Increasingly complex qualifying conditions

The cumulative weight of these factors left me tired of the cycle: "work hard to maintain high rewards, then stress about covering the annual fee."

That's when I discovered the SBI Net Bank Debit Card Point+ (Mastercard). No annual fee, a base cashback rate of 1.25%, and 1.50% if you meet the Smart Program rank requirements. Surprisingly strong numbers — strong enough that my reaction was simply "this'll do just fine."

On top of the rates, instant deductions from my bank account brought a sense of calm that credit cards never could. No more "wait until next month's statement" uncertainty — my spending is visible in real time.

Good deals inevitably get nerfed. So rather than chasing the absolute best rewards, I've come to prefer a setup that I can maintain comfortably, without overthinking it.

My Card Lineup as of 2026

Here's how things have settled:

Payment methods and our relationship with money evolve over time.

New cards and payment services will keep appearing, but I'd rather not burn out chasing them. Going forward, I plan to stick with whatever feels comfortable — and nothing more.