Bitbank and EPOS Card began issuing a crypto-linked Visa credit card in Japan on April 27, letting cardholders pay their monthly bill directly from a bitbank exchange account using Bitcoin.
The product, called the EPOS CRYPTO Card for bitbank, is a joint effort between the Japanese crypto exchange and EPOS Card, a subsidiary of retail group Marui. The card carries no annual fee and runs on the Visa network, according to bitbank’s launch announcement.
Cardholders earn 0.5% crypto rewards on spending, with the reward asset selectable from BTC, ETH, or ASTR. New users also receive a signup bonus worth 2,000 JPY in crypto.
A launch campaign offers a pool of 0.101 BTC shared among eligible users who issue the card and spend at least 20,000 JPY by June 30, 2026.
How the Bitcoin bill payment actually works
The card’s distinguishing feature is its monthly bill settlement option. Users choose each month whether to pay the card bill from a traditional bank account or from their linked bitbank account. If they select bitbank, only Bitcoin is supported for the debit.
A critical detail: the Bitcoin amount owed is converted using bitbank’s sales-desk rate on the debit processing day, not at the time of each card transaction. This means users carry exchange-rate risk between the date of purchase and the date of settlement.
If the BTC debit fails due to insufficient balance, it is not automatically retried. That handling detail, buried in the official press release from EPOS Card’s parent company, matters for anyone treating this as a daily spending tool.
The payment source choice is made monthly rather than per transaction, so users cannot split individual purchases between fiat and crypto settlement.
What the launch signals for Japan’s crypto payments
The card creates a direct bridge between exchange-held crypto and everyday credit card spending in Japan. While crypto debit cards exist globally, linking an exchange balance to monthly credit card bill settlement is a less common model. The companies describe the product as Japan’s first such service, though that claim is based on their own survey and has not been independently verified.
Bitcoin traded at $76,805 at press time, down roughly 2.9% over the prior 24 hours, with a market cap near $1.54 trillion.
Bitbank frames the launch against Japan’s evolving regulatory environment. The exchange is registered with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau (registration No. 00004) and noted that Japan continues formalizing crypto-asset rules, including a planned transition into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act regime.
The rollout arrives as crypto-linked financial products gain momentum elsewhere. In the U.S., Bitcoin ETFs recently recorded a nine-day inflow streak, the longest since September 2025, reflecting broader institutional appetite for BTC exposure. Meanwhile, Western Union’s planned stablecoin launch signals that traditional finance players increasingly see digital assets as a payments layer.
On the exchange side, platforms are expanding product lines beyond simple trading. Gemini recently debuted agentic trading features for crypto accounts, pointing to a competitive environment where exchanges differentiate through integrated financial services rather than spot trading alone.
For Japanese users, the practical question is whether paying a credit card bill in Bitcoin, at a conversion rate they do not control in advance, offers enough convenience to offset the volatility risk. The card’s no-fee structure and crypto rewards lower the barrier to trying it, but the debit-day pricing mechanic means the final yen cost of each month’s spending is unknown until settlement.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.
