EPOS Card for foreign residents: regular or GTN EPOS Card

Which EPOS Card should I apply for?

It depends on whether you already use a GTN service. EPOS’s own page says the GTN EPOS Card cannot be applied for by a customer who does not use one (EPOS Card).

The regular card fits you if you live in Japan, are 18 or older, are not a high-school student and do not use a GTN service. It is not for you if you already hold an EPOS Card, or if you want an application and support in English from the start: for that, see the GTN card, if you qualify.

How do the regular EPOS Card and the GTN EPOS Card differ?

They are the same issuer. The differences are who may apply, where you apply and the languages EPOS or GTN say they support.

“Not stated” means the pages we read do not say. It does not mean the card lacks it.

How do I apply for the regular EPOS Card as a foreigner?

You apply on EPOS’s website or in its smartphone app, both in Japanese. By website, the card arrives at your home about 1 week after you apply. By app, you get a digital card to use at once and the card itself follows in about a week (EPOS).

1. Have photo ID. The app accepts a driver’s license, My Number Card, residence card (在留カード), driving history certificate or passport (EPOS).
2. For the app, have a bank account in your own name that can do the online procedure. EPOS’s main listed banks are MUFG, Japan Post Bank, Mizuho, SMBC and Resona, and it says some banks are not accepted (EPOS). The bank account guide covers opening one.
3. Apply, then wait for screening. EPOS can decline an application. The credit card guide has what to try if it does.
4. Set the payment account. Payments are debited from an account at a Japanese bank, credit association, credit union, labor bank or farm cooperative, other than Norinchukin Bank and a few fishing cooperatives (EPOS).

Fits you if you live in Japan, are 18 or older, are not a high-school student and are comfortable with a Japanese form. EPOS’s application pages are in Japanese, and the button below opens them.

Apply for the regular EPOS Card (application in Japanese)

Opens EPOS Card's site (Japanese)

How do I apply for the GTN EPOS Card?

Start from GTN, not EPOS. EPOS’s FAQ says you send your details through a form on GTN’s guide page for the GTN service you use, and GTN sends you the EPOS Net application link once it has confirmed you use that service (EPOS). GTN’s page has one route for GTN Mobile customers and one for GTN rent guarantee customers (GTN).

If you are signing up for a GTN Mobile SIM, you choose the GTN EPOS Card in the same order (GTN Mobile). If the card is declined, GTN ships only the SIM and switches your phone bill to convenience store payment (GTN Mobile).

Paying GTN Mobile charges with the GTN EPOS Card takes ¥220 (tax included) off the monthly fee, and GTN says the sign-up gift of ¥2,000 of points applies to the card design its page shows (GTN, GTN). GTN says screening results can come as soon as the same day and may take longer (GTN).

EPOS’s GTN card FAQ can be machine-translated into English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese and Vietnamese. The Japanese original governs (EPOS). To talk to EPOS in another language, call the foreign-language number on the back of the card (EPOS).

Fits you if you already pay GTN for a service and want support in your own language. Not for you if you do not use a GTN service, or have less than 2 months left on your stay. The button above is for the regular card only. GTN runs its own application.

Do I have to show my residence card again after I get an EPOS Card?

Yes, when EPOS asks. EPOS says it requires foreign customers to present their residence card or Special Permanent Resident Certificate and keeps checking their residence status and the end date of their stay, and it asks customers who already showed the card at application to show it again (EPOS).

• The request goes to the email address or phone number registered in EPOS Net, or by post if you get no email or SMS (EPOS).
• You show the new card each time the old one expires (EPOS).
• While your stay is being renewed, you register the date you expect your new residence card (EPOS).

If you do not show the card, or your period of stay passes the end date EPOS holds, EPOS restricts use of the card (EPOS). Its Japanese page says it will stop the card (EPOS). Check your EPOS Net email after every renewal, and before your stay ends.

What do EPOS and GTN not say?

• The June 2026 residence card. EPOS’s pages do not say whether its smartphone application reads a residence card issued from 14 June 2026. The residence card verification tracker lists the sign-ups that refuse it. EPOS is not on it yet.
• ID for the GTN card. The GTN and EPOS pages we read do not list the ID it asks for.
• Other GTN services. They name GTN Mobile and GTN rent guarantee. Whether GTN’s home internet or other services count is not stated.
• Applying without a Japanese bank account. EPOS’s website application page does not list a bank account as a requirement, but payments are debited from a Japanese one. We did not complete an application, so we cannot say what the form asks.
• Why an application is declined. The pages we read give no reasons for a declined application and no approval rates, so this page does not rank the two cards by your chances.