MinatoKu PAY Guide: 25% Back, Open to Anyone, 15,000 Points a Month

Based on Minato City’s mayoral press briefing materials (31 August 2026) and the official MinatoKu PAY site, as of 2 September 2026. Anything marked “planned” has not started yet — always check the official pages before you rely on it.

What MinatoKu PAY is — three things to keep apart

MinatoKu PAY (みなトクPAY) is the digital local currency of Minato City, the Tokyo ward that covers Shinbashi, Roppongi, Azabu-Juban, Akasaka, Shirokane-Takanawa, Tamachi, Shibaura and Daiba. It is operated by the Minato City Shopping Street Federation (a registered prepaid payment instrument issuer, Kanto Local Finance Bureau No. 00454), with the ward funding the campaigns. The official pitch is explicitly open: “for people who work here, people who live here, and people who come to visit.”

The app contains three different things, and mixing them up is how people end up with no rewards. Sort them out first:

Can you really use it if you don’t live in Minato?

Yes — but it depends which scheme you mean. In Minato City’s mayoral press briefing of 31 August 2026, the eligibility line for the point-back campaign is simply “どなたでも利用可能” — anyone may use it. You can live in Setagaya, or in Saitama, or just be in Roppongi for dinner, and still earn. The vouchers are the part with a residency rule.

The table that matters most: rates by month

Opening the app, seeing “2%” and closing it again is how most people miss the 20% months. The rate is set month by month, and the ward laid out the whole fiscal year in its 31 August briefing.

Up to 20%: May, August and November. 2%: April, June, July, September, October, December and January. Then the expanded tier in February 2027.

※ The percentages are the maximum for small and mid-size shops; large stores sit in a lower band (see below). February is listed as “planned” in the briefing, and March is the planned timing for the additional voucher issue.

What September actually pays

To be blunt: September is not worth a special trip to Minato. A 1,000-point cap is ¥1,000 at best. Its value is incidental — if you were already going to eat or shop in Minato, switching the payment to MinatoKu PAY “Money” picks up 2% for no extra effort.

What changes in February 2027

On 31 August the ward announced both an expansion of the point-back campaign and an additional issue of premium vouchers. The stated reason is that “amid continuing uncertainty from the situation in the Middle East, residents’ lives and the business conditions of member shops remain difficult under rising prices.” The supplementary budget is ¥1,019.09 million.

Old terms vs. the expanded tier

The briefing puts it as “small shops 20 ⇒ 25% UP! large stores 10 ⇒ 20% UP!” and “per person 10,000 ⇒ 15,000 points UP!”. The biggest move is actually at large stores, where the rate doubles from 10% to 20% — which is where supermarkets and electronics retailers, the places where a single receipt gets large, start to matter.

Four steps to start, and the top-up catch

1. Download the app. Search “みなトクPAY” on the App Store or Google Play. The official site documents how to switch the app’s display language to English, so do that first if your Japanese is shaky.
2. Create an account. Tap 新規登録 (new registration), enter an email address and password, then complete email verification, SMS verification and your personal details (お客様情報) from the menu. There is no residency condition on registration.
3. Top up “Money”. Three ways: credit card, cash at a Seven Bank ATM, or cash at a convenience store. Minimum ¥1,000 and maximum ¥49,000 per top-up, with a ¥300,000 balance ceiling.
4. Pay at a member shop. Look for the MinatoKu PAY sticker, scan the shop’s QR code, enter the amount and confirm it with the staff. Some shops scan your code instead. Check that マネー is the selected method on the final screen.

How to reach the cap

1. The two caps are counted separately

This is the detail most people miss and the one worth the most. August’s notice states that even if you hit the cap on either the 20% or the 10% band, you can still earn on the band you have not maxed out. The two allowances are independent.

Applied to the expanded tier: after taking 10,000 points at small shops (¥40,000 × 25%), you can still take another 5,000 at large stores (¥25,000 × 20%). To reach 15,000 you have to spend across both categories, not pile everything into one shop.

2. Whether card top-ups double-dip depends on your card

MinatoKu PAY is unusual among municipal payment apps in accepting credit card top-ups, which in principle means card points on the top-up plus MinatoKu PAY points on the purchase.

3. Don’t mix vouchers or points into a peak-month payment

You can combine vouchers, Money and points in one payment, but only the portion paid with “Money” counts towards the reward. So in a 20% or 25% month, pay that bill entirely with Money and save your points and vouchers for a 2% month. It is a small habit that measurably changes the total.

Premium vouchers (residents and workers only)

This is a completely separate scheme from the point rewards, and this one does have a residency rule — which is exactly where the confusion usually starts.

It is a lottery, not first-come-first-served. The official wording is explicit on that, and if applications exceed the budget the ward reduces the number of sets each winner may buy so that everyone who applied can get some. One application per person; an incomplete application counts as a loss.

Ten ways people lose the rewards

1. Paying with vouchers or points. Only “Money” earns. Glance at the final screen.
2. Forgetting to top up first. There is no post-pay option, and realising it at the till is awkward.
3. The budget running out. Every notice says the campaign ends once the budget cap is reached, so go early in a peak month.
4. Letting Money expire. The validity is 365 days from your most recent activity — whichever is latest of topping up, receiving points or spending — and it extends every time you use it.
5. Expecting a refund. Refunds are not available as a rule, so don’t load more than you will spend.
6. Closing your account with a balance. Withdrawing from the app forfeits the remaining balance, with no refund.
7. Assuming every shop pays the same rate. Within the same month, small shops and large stores sit in different bands; check the app’s shop list or the official list.
8. Some medical institutions, dispensing pharmacies and taxis are excluded.
9. Leaving My Number verification to the last minute if you want card top-ups — sort it out days before a peak month starts, not on the first morning.
10. Assuming all points expire together. The official line is only “check the 一覧 list under the ポイント tab”, so treat each batch as potentially having its own date.

Where you can spend it

The coverage is broader than you might expect. The official shop list can be filtered by reward rate (20% / 10% / 5% / 2%) and by category, and the categories run to:

supermarkets; shopping centres; convenience stores; drugstores and pharmacies; discount stores; family restaurants and diners; udon, soba and rice bowls; curry; ramen and gyoza; Chinese; Western food; yakiniku and Korean; sukiyaki and shabu-shabu; Japanese food and sushi; French and Italian; hot pot; okonomiyaki-style dishes; other Asian and international cuisine; izakaya; bars; cafés and sweets; other restaurants; electronics retailers; hair salons and barbers; beauty and nail salons; massage and relaxation; dry cleaning; travel; florists; sports facilities and gyms; karaoke; amusement arcades; hotels; and hospitals and clinics.

How it fits with other point schemes

Municipal payment apps share a shape: a low everyday rate, with the real value concentrated in a handful of high-reward months. So the right approach is not to switch your main wallet, but to keep it installed and spend deliberately when the peak arrives.

• If you live in Tokyo, the Tokyo app’s up-to-11,000-point programme is a completely separate pot from Minato’s, so you can run both.
• New to points in Japan? Read our introduction to poikatsu first and this guide will make more sense.
• To lift your everyday rate, the FamiPay route to as much as 13% and the Erabelu Gift × au PAY route are the “works any day” options that fill the 2% months.
• MinatoKu PAY only works at member shops inside Minato. For online shopping deals we post separately every day: Rakuten deals | Amazon deals.

FAQ

Q. Can I use it if I neither live nor work in Minato?

For the point-back campaigns, yes. Minato City’s mayoral press briefing of 31 August 2026 gives the eligibility for the expanded tier as “anyone may use it”, and the official site describes the service as being for people who work, live or visit. The premium vouchers are different: e-vouchers are for Minato residents and people who work there, and paper vouchers for residents only.

Q. When does the 25% start, and when is the next 20% month?

The expanded 25% tier is given in the briefing as starting in February 2027 (Reiwa 9), marked “planned”. Before that, the nearest high-reward month is November 2026 — the same briefing lists the up-to-20% months for this fiscal year as May, August and November. Every other month (April, June, July, September, October, December, January) is 2%.

Q. Is it worth using right now, in September 2026?

Not as a destination. September is a 2% month capped at 1,000 points, which you reach at ¥50,000 of spending. What is worth doing now is installing the app, completing verification and checking which shops take it, then concentrating actual spending into November 2026 and the February 2027 expanded tier.

Q. I paid but got no reward. Why?

Most often the payment was not made with “Money” — amounts paid with vouchers or points are excluded, and the operator specifically asks you to confirm that マネー is selected on the final payment screen. Other possibilities: the shop was in an excluded sector (some medical institutions, dispensing pharmacies, taxis), or the campaign had already ended early after hitting its budget cap.

Q. When do the points arrive?

Roughly the 10th of the following month. For September 2026 the notice gives “around Tuesday 13 October”. You can check the date and the expected amount under 還元予定 in the app.

Q. Are the small-shop and large-store caps separate?

Yes. August’s campaign notice states that even if you reach the cap on one of the two bands, you can still earn on the other. To reach the combined cap you need to spend in both categories rather than concentrating it in one shop.

Q. Do I really need a My Number Card to top up by credit card?

Yes. The official “how to use” page states that credit card charging requires My Number Card authentication. You can still use MinatoKu PAY without one — top-ups are then limited to cash at a Seven Bank ATM or a convenience store.

Q. Will my credit card give me its own points on the top-up?

That depends on the card. Many issuers exclude e-money top-ups from earning points entirely — SMBC Card, for example, states this explicitly. Top up a small amount first, check your statement, and only scale up once you have confirmed the points appear.

Q. Are there limits on topping up or on the balance?

Each top-up is between ¥1,000 and ¥49,000, and the maximum balance you can hold is ¥300,000. Transfers between users are capped at ¥49,000 per transfer and ¥100,000 per month, on both the sending and receiving side.

Q. Does the Money balance expire? Can I get a refund?

It expires 365 days after your most recent activity — whichever is latest of the day you topped up, received points, or spent — and every use extends it. Refunds are not available as a rule, and if you close your account any remaining balance is forfeited with no refund.

Q. How safe is it?

The issuer is the Minato City Shopping Street Federation, registered as a prepaid payment instrument issuer under Kanto Local Finance Bureau No. 00454. Japan’s Payment Services Act requires at least half of the unused balance to be secured as an issuance guarantee, and the published method is a guarantee agreement with Shiba Shinkin Bank.

Q. Does the app work in English?

The official site documents how to switch the app’s display language to English. The ward also runs 11 walk-in “digital support advisor” desks where you can get help with downloading, registering and using the app without an appointment.

Q. Is the February 2027 25% confirmed?

It is currently a plan. The mayoral press briefing of 31 August 2026 gives the timing as “February of Reiwa 9 (planned)” along with the rates and caps. The final details will come from the ward’s later announcements.

Sources and disclaimer