No points on ANA Pay and other top-ups
Topping up ANA Pay with a V NEOBANK debit card used to earn 1.5% in V Points. Since November 1 it earns nothing. Here is what changed, how long your V Points keep working inside the bank, and which debit cards to look at instead, based on the bank’s own announcements.
This article contains a Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK referral code (PR). The details of the changes come from DOCOMO SMTB Net Bank’s official announcements (checked ).
V NEOBANK is the V Point branch of DOCOMO SMTB Net Bank (formerly SBI Sumishin Net Bank). Its debit card paid 1.5% in V Points once you spent ¥1,000 in a month, and the terms listed no excluded transaction types. That made it a well-known way to fund ANA Pay through Apple Pay: 1.5% on the top-up, then ANA miles when you paid with ANA Pay.
An announcement on July 31 ended that. From Sunday, November 1, 2026, the debit rate is 1.25%, and top-ups to other payment services earn no points at all. On September 30 the bank added that V NEOBANK itself will close on March 28, 2027 and move into a new service called NEOBANK CASH. Below, the three announcements are taken apart in order.
- The date that counts is when the merchant’s final sales data arrives: a top-up made in late October can still fall under the new rules if that data reaches the bank in November
- Top-ups earn 0%, not 0.3%: e-money, QR code payments, contactless payments, transit IC cards and local-government PAY services are all covered
- Transfer and balance points shrink: 10P per incoming transfer (up to 250P a month), and the 50P for keeping ¥100,000 in the account is gone
- V Points can be earned and spent through the bank until February 28, 2027; points you already hold still work at V Point partner shops after that
- No need to close the account: it becomes NEOBANK CASH on March 29, 2027 with the same account number
- To keep 1.5% without a balance requirement: Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK Debit Premium pays 1.5% once you spend ¥1,000 in a month
The three changes from November 1
The July 31 notice, “[V NEOBANK] Revision of the Points Program” (【V NEOBANK】ポイントプログラムの改定について), changed three things: the debit card, incoming transfers from other banks, and the ordinary yen deposit balance bonus. Each one starts from a different point, so the table shows that too.
| Item | Before | After | Applies from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debit card | 1.5% of spending once you spend ¥1,000 in a month | 1.25% top-ups to other payment services: 0 | Sales data arriving on or after Nov 1 |
| Transfers from other banks | 20P per transfer of ¥10,000+ (up to 25, 500P) | 10P per transfer (up to 25, 250P) | Deposits from Nov 1 |
| Yen deposit balance | 50P for ¥100,000+ at month-end and on days 1–5 of next month | Discontinued | From the end-of- November balance |
The way transfers are counted has not changed. Transfers from Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, scheduled automatic deposits (定額自動入金), Money Tap, Cotra (ことら送金), and anything labeled salary, bonus or pension (給与・賞与・年金) in your statement still don’t count.
Which top-ups no longer earn points
The revised debit terms now include a list of transactions that earn no points. Here it is, translated from the bank’s Japanese notice. Note that these earn nothing; they are not cut to 0.3%.
・Railways (tickets, limited express tickets, commuter passes)
・Utility bills (electricity, gas, water, NHK fees, etc.)
・NTT East and NTT West service charges
・Taxes, national pension, national health insurance, other payments to government services, national exam fees, lottery tickets, etc.
・Hospitals and clinics
・Membership fees and donations to non-profit organizations, etc.
The first line covers a lot of ground. ANA Pay and JAL Pay, QR code apps like PayPay and Rakuten Pay, and transit cards like Suica and PASMO all fall under “top-ups to other payment services.”
Points are calculated from the final sales data (売上確定データ) that merchants send later, not from the day you used the card. The bank says the new rules apply to sales data that arrives on or after November 1, 2026. So a top-up you made at the end of October earns nothing if that data only reaches the bank in November.
What happens next: V Point deadlines and NEOBANK CASH
On September 30, DOCOMO SMTB Net Bank said its banking agency contract with CCC Life Partners ends on March 28, 2027, which retires the V NEOBANK brand. On October 30 it named the successor, NEOBANK CASH, and published its points program.
The V Points you already hold don’t disappear. The bank states that after V NEOBANK ends, you can keep using them at V Point partner shops. What ends is earning and spending V Points through banking transactions.
NEOBANK CASH debit rewards
Spend ¥1,000 or more in a month and you get 1.25% in NEOBANK CASH Points. If your month-end ordinary yen deposits (including the SBI Hybrid Deposit) total ¥1 million or more, you get another 0.25%, for up to 1.5%. The bonus applies two months after the month you meet the balance condition. Points can be exchanged for cash from 500 points in 100-point steps, or spent on debit purchases at 1 point = ¥1.
The exclusion wording changes too. For November 2026 to February 2027, top-ups to other payment services earn no points. From March 1, 2027, the bank says “some merchants” earn 0.3% and everything else earns 1.25%. The 0.3% list is railways (tickets, limited express tickets, commuter passes), utility bills, taxes and social insurance, hospitals and clinics, and fees and donations to non-profits. Top-ups are not on that list.
On the banking side, incoming transfers go back to 20P each from March 1, while the 20P for the instant payment service (即時決済) ends.
How you can top up ANA Pay
Before switching cards, check what ANA Pay accepts. ANA’s official page on top-up methods lists these:
On the spending side, ANA says that regardless of how you top up, paying with ANA Pay earns 1 mile per ¥200. That is 0.5% whichever funding source you use. The appeal of the V NEOBANK route was the extra 1.5% on the top-up. Without it, only the 0.5% from ANA Pay is left.
Alternatives, compared on their official terms
Several debit cards pay points once you spend ¥1,000 in a month. Where they differ is whether they need a deposit balance and how their exclusion list is worded. The table only includes what each bank’s own pages say.
| Card | Base rate | Condition | How exclusions are worded |
|---|---|---|---|
| V NEOBANK debit (from 11/1) | 1.25% | ¥1,000+ a month | First line: top-ups to other payment services → no points |
| Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK Debit Premium | 1.5% | ¥1,000+ a month (no balance needed) | 「鉄道/チャージ（乗車券/ 特急券/定期券など）」, utilities, taxes, hospitals → 0.3% |
| Katene BANK debit | 1.0% 1.5% 2.0% | Previous month-end yen deposits + SBI Hybrid Deposit under ¥1M / ¥1M+ / ¥2M+ | 「鉄道料金（乗車券/ 特急券/定期券など）」, utilities, taxes, hospitals → 0.3% |
| NEOBANK CASH (from 3/29/2027) | 1.25% | ¥1,000+ a month +0.25% with ¥1M+ balance | From 3/1: railways, utilities, taxes, hospitals, donations → 0.3% |
Sources: V NEOBANK = July 31, 2026 notice; Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK = DOCOMO SMTB Net Bank’s “Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK Debit Premium” page; Katene BANK = Chubu Electric Power Miraiz notice of December 17, 2025 and the Katene BANK debit page (effective January 1, 2026); NEOBANK CASH = October 30, 2026 press release.
If you don’t want to park ¥1 million or ¥2 million at one bank, Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK is the only card in this table that pays 1.5% regardless of balance.
Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK: 1.5% with no balance requirement
Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK is the Dai-ichi Life branch of DOCOMO SMTB Net Bank, the same bank that runs V NEOBANK. In March 2026 its debit card became “Debit Premium” (Mastercard, no annual fee) and the rate went from 1.0% to 1.5%.
Compared with V NEOBANK’s list, Dai-ichi Life’s first excluded item reads 「鉄道/チャージ（乗車券/特急券/定期券など）」 (railways/top-ups: tickets, limited express tickets, commuter passes, etc.), and there is no separate line for “top-ups to other payment services.” The bank’s October 30, 2026 notice also says the Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK Points Program continues without changes.
Banking points are richer too
The two branches belong to the same bank, but their banking-transaction points differ a lot. These are the figures on the official pages (Dai-ichi Life = current; V NEOBANK = Nov 1, 2026 to Feb 28, 2027).
| Item | Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK | V NEOBANK |
|---|---|---|
| Direct debits (口座振替) | 30P each (up to 300P/month) | 5P each |
| Salary or pension deposit | 200P a month | 30P a month |
| Transfers from other banks (¥10,000+ each) | 20P each (up to 500P/month) | 10P each (up to 250P/month) |
| Instant payments (¥10,000+ each) | 20P each (up to 40P/month) | 20P each (up to 200P/month) |
Ten direct debits, two instant payments, 25 incoming transfers and one salary deposit add up to 1,040P a month, before the 1.5% from the debit card. Account opening steps and how to combine these are in our Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK Complete Guide.
What to check now
- Your ANA Pay funding card: if the card registered in ANA Pay, or the card you use for Apple Pay top-ups, is still the V NEOBANK debit card, switch it. From November these top-ups earn no points
- V Points inside the bank: using V Points for card loan repayments or sports lottery tickets ends on February 28, 2027
- Transfer points: if you collect points from incoming transfers, V NEOBANK’s monthly cap falls from 500P to 250P. Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK pays 20P each, up to 500P a month (transfers from Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank don’t count)
- The ¥1,000 monthly minimum: Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK, V NEOBANK and NEOBANK CASH all require ¥1,000 of debit spending in the month before any points are paid
- Keep the account: no need to close V NEOBANK. It becomes NEOBANK CASH on March 29, 2027. From April 1, free ATM withdrawals and free transfers to other banks drop to 2 a month each
FAQ
- Q. When do the V NEOBANK changes start?
- November 1, 2026. For the debit card, the bank goes by the date the merchant’s final sales data arrives: anything arriving on or after November 1 follows the new rules (1.25%, no points on top-ups). Spending from late October counts under the new rules if its data arrives in November.
- Q. Which top-ups earn no points?
- The official wording covers top-ups to other payment services, including e-money, QR code payments, contactless payments, transit IC cards and local-government PAY services. That includes payment services like ANA Pay, QR code apps and transit cards like Suica. They earn nothing, not 0.3%.
- Q. How do points for incoming transfers change?
- For deposits from November 1, 2026, each transfer of ¥10,000 or more from another bank earns 10P instead of 20P. The limit is still 25 transfers, so the monthly maximum drops from 500P to 250P.
- Q. When do I need to use my V Points?
- Earning and spending V Points through V NEOBANK (card loan repayments, sports lottery tickets) ends on February 28, 2027. The points themselves don’t disappear: you can still use them at V Point partner shops after V NEOBANK ends.
- Q. Do I need to close my V NEOBANK account?
- In principle, no. From March 29, 2027 it becomes NEOBANK CASH, and the branch is renamed Icho Branch. Your branch number and account number stay the same, and deposits, transfers and ATMs keep working.
- Q. What does NEOBANK CASH pay on debit spending?
- 1.25% once you spend ¥1,000 in a month. If your month-end ordinary yen deposits (including the SBI Hybrid Deposit) are ¥1 million or more, you get another 0.25%, for up to 1.5%. From March 1, 2027, railways, utilities, taxes, hospitals and donations earn 0.3%, and everything else earns 1.25%.
- Q. What are the conditions for Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK Debit Premium?
- Spend a total of ¥1,000 in a month and you earn 15P per ¥1,000 (1.5%), with no balance requirement. Excluded transactions such as railways/top-ups (tickets, limited express tickets, commuter passes, etc.), utility bills, NTT East/West charges and hospitals earn 0.3%. The bank’s October 30, 2026 notice says the points program continues without changes.
- Q. How can I top up ANA Pay?
- According to ANA: ANA miles, a registered credit or debit card that supports 3D Secure 2.0, a credit card in Apple Wallet (Apple Pay), a bank account (Bank Pay), Seven Bank ATMs, and gift codes.
- Q. How many miles does paying with ANA Pay earn?
- 1 mile per ¥200, whatever you used to top up. Topping up with an ANA Card earns extra miles on the top-up: per ¥1,000, 1 mile on a standard card, 6 on Gold and 11 on Premium.
- Q. What is changing with Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK referral codes?
- Codes change on November 2, 2026, and old codes stop working. If you apply with an old code by November 1 but your account is completed on or after November 2, you won’t get the bonus. The ¥1,500 for the person being referred stays the same; referrers can now refer up to 10 people a year per code.
Sources (all checked November 1, 2026; in Japanese)
- DOCOMO SMTB Net Bank: Revision of the V NEOBANK Points Program (July 31, 2026)
- DOCOMO SMTB Net Bank: Notice on the V NEOBANK Service Transition (September 30, 2026)
- DOCOMO SMTB Net Bank: NEOBANK CASH to Launch March 29, 2027 as V NEOBANK’s Successor (October 30, 2026)
- Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK Debit Premium / Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK Points Program
- DOCOMO SMTB Net Bank: End of the 500 V Point Account Opening Bonus for Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK (October 30, 2026)
- DOCOMO SMTB Net Bank: Revision of the Dai-ichi Life NEOBANK Referral Program (July 31, 2026)
- Chubu Electric Power Miraiz: Katene BANK debit rate revision (December 17, 2025)
- ANA: How to Use ANA Pay (Top-up Methods) / Payment Methods
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