[Kathrinjapan]

In the States I used to be annoyed just trying to remember my VIP card to the grocery store. I can't believe here in Japan how there are incentive point cards for almost every store I go to. I feel like a person needs a whole other wallet just to keep up. I've just given up accepting anymore. Do any of the long-timers here have ideas or favorites?

 

[Rube]

I hate all point cards. I can't see any reason to give them access to my shopping habits. Certainly not for 3% off or whatever it is.

 

[deebz]

The one i used most frequently was probably my supermarket one, I got so many point for every hundred yen spent then could change them to vouchers when i had enough. Really helped when I was low on funds and could get free shopping.

I also loved the one I had for our local indian resturaunt. Got points for every 1000 yen spend and when you got so many points you got a free meal. Got 3 free meals there ^__^
The only one I kept when I left Japan was my manga cafe one, for one I return to Japan on holidays.

I did have a seperate wallet for my point cards btw lol

 

[larabell]

I have my Bic Camera and Yodobashi camera point cards on my phone so I don't have to carry the cards around any more. I know those are connected with my personal data but, in both cases, the discount is more like 10% so it's worth it to me (and even if you carry the card, it's still tracked). I don't register for supermarket cards but yeah... I have a ton of stamp cards for restaurants and bars, most of which I keep in a separate case in my bag. There's only a few I use frequently enough to carry in my wallet. And stamp cards aren't tracked like point cards. The discount seems to vary wildly from place to place.

BTW, I also have Edy and Suica set-up on my phone, which I think is pretty convenient, even though I assume someone is using that data to track what I buy and where I go.

 

[Rube]

lol, I've seen people with the card cases that are bigger than their normal purses.

I don't think that the data could be used for much in Japan but it wouldn't surprise me if one day for example insurance companies deny people because they eat a lot of salty foods and so on.

 

[larabell]

I'm not sure how much tracking the Japanese do but in the States that's a genuine concern. There was an article recently in one of the big money-related magazines about how Target was able to predict when women were in their 2nd or 3rd trimester of pregnancy and send them ads for baby-related stuff. The author related a story of one father who came into the store and blasted the manager for sending his teenage daughter ads for baby strollers and such and when the manager called the guy back a few days later to apologize again, the father was the one to apologize -- apparently he didn't know his teen daughter actually was pregnant. It's kinda scary what the big-data companies are able to do these days with the data they collect and I'm sure if Japanese companies aren't already doing the same, it's not long before they will.

Hmmm... maybe I should stop using my Edy card to buy late-night snacks...

 

[Rube]

It's amazing how they know stuff about you. I keep getting e-mails about penis enlargement pumps.