Visa Launches BTC, ETH, XRP Rewards Credit Card in Japan

The Visa crypto rewards credit card is now live in Japan, thanks to a three-way deal between Visa, SBI Holdings, and its crypto arm SBI VC Trade. Launched on May 1 alongside card issuer APLUS Co. Ltd., the product does something surprisingly simple: it turns everyday card spending into crypto holdings, no exchange app required.

How the SBI VC Trade Credit Card Actually Works

The mechanics are straightforward. When you spend on the card, your reward points get automatically converted into whichever digital asset you chose at signup, either Bitcoin, Ethereum, or XRP. No manual redemptions, no conversion fees. SBI VC Trade handles the backend; you just need an account with them to receive the payouts.

There are two tiers. The standard card suits casual spenders and newcomers to crypto, offering up to 2.5% back in digital assets. The Gold card is the one worth paying attention to, it pushes that ceiling to 10%, which frankly beats the crypto cashback rates on most dedicated crypto cards, not just traditional ones. The annual fee sits at 6,600 yen, and Gold cardholders who hit 2 million yen in annual spending pick up an extra crypto bonus on top of regular rewards.

One detail that sets this product apart: the card also plugs into SBI VC Trade's brokerage infrastructure. Cardholders can link recurring mutual fund contributions to the credit card and receive crypto rewards on those investment payments too. SBI and Visa are calling this a first-of-its-kind feature in Japan, a card that bridges traditional asset accumulation and digital asset rewards inside a single product.

Why Japan and Why Now?

SBI Holdings is not a passive Ripple observer. The Tokyo-listed conglomerate is one of Ripple's longest-standing institutional partners, which makes XRP's place on the rewards menu less surprising than it looks. The broader picture is a company deepening its crypto infrastructure on multiple fronts: SBI is also reportedly eyeing an acquisition of BitBank, one of Japan's established crypto exchanges, as it pushes further into the digital asset space.

For Visa, the timing fits a pattern. Earlier this week the payments giant announced support for stablecoin settlements across Coinbase-backed Base, Polygon, and several other Layer 1 networks. Japan is now another front in that expansion, a market with a clear regulatory framework for crypto and a customer base that tends to adopt financial technology early.

The Visa crypto rewards credit card launch also lands as institutional appetite for crypto exposure keeps rising. Offering BTC and ETH rewards through an everyday credit card removes the friction that still stops many retail investors from getting started. No self-custody headaches, no KYC repeat, just a credit card that drips crypto into an account you already have.

What Does This Mean for XRP and Crypto Adoption?

The inclusion of XRP on equal footing with BTC and ETH is the part the Ripple community will notice. Most crypto rewards cards launched outside the SBI ecosystem default to Bitcoin only. Putting XRP on the same selection screen, inside a Visa-branded product distributed through a major Japanese bank, is a form of retail legitimacy that no price pump delivers.

Japan has long been one of XRP's strongest retail markets. Giving Japanese consumers a passive accumulation vehicle for the asset, through a product as frictionless as a credit card, could quietly expand the XRP holder base in ways that are hard to track but easy to underestimate. The broader bet here is that the easiest onramp wins, and right now this card is one of the easiest onramps to any of three major assets that exists anywhere.