Hi,
I’m going to Japan next week and there were recent topics about Revolut card not working in Japanese ATMs (those that were confirmed working earlier … 7/11 for example). I’ll have only some $US as a backup money and no time to setup other travel account backup, so I have 2 questions:
Do you have any recent experience with Revolut (Mastercard) in Japanese ATMs? and
Do you have any experience with big emergency withdrawal from Revolut account without ATM? (Like western union?)
Thank you.
I’m just coming back from Japan. No problems with ATMs and my Revolut Mastercard at all.
Avoid “travel banks” like western union. They most likely charge you fees. A very good option is Seven Eleven. They are everywhere, at stations and in most of the Seven Eleven grocery stores. No fees.
(I don’t think over the counter cash services like western union is supported with Revolut.)
As @Frank mentioned, 7/11 works fine, also Family Mart and all Post Offices. Enjoy your travels to Japan, you are going during a peak holiday season (Golden Week), please make sure you book your hotels and trains well in advance.
I went to Japan earlier in the year. I have both a Visa and Mastercard Revolut card, but the Visa was what was in my travel wallet so that’s what I was using for the majority of the time. The ATM at the 7-11 charges you depending on what card you use, 108 Yen for the Visa on a 10,000 Yen withdrawal. It wasn’t until the last few days that I thought to try my Mastercard. The result? No additional charge from the ATM! So if you have a Revolut Mastercard, use that rather than a Visa.
In Japan right now. So far I’ve made two withdrawals. I had trouble, the first time, as I selected “withdrawal” after having selected English, but that option only recognises local cards on many ATMs. I missed that there was also an “International” option which worked fine. Today, the ATM used didn’t have the international option so I tried withdrawal and the next screen had only one option for a foreign card. In short, if you see international as well as withdrawal, then definitely go for the latter.
I have just returned from Japan. Here’s my experiences with my Revolut Maestro card:
ATM: no charges with the 7 bank (of the seven eleven convenience stores) any time. MUFG and SMBC charges ¥216 per withdrawal. You nees to find the ATM which accecpts Maestro card. It is not common. But the ones in the airports and big cities are OK. In shinjuku, SMBC had only one ATM out of 20. MUFG in Ikebujuro had two out ou 15(?). I did not have a chance to test with the ATM at Japan Post.
Purchases: Never worked. I was disappointed. I tried to pay by my revolute maestro card every where (supermarkets, bookshops, coffee shop, restaurants). They accept credit cards (visa, master, etc) not the maestro debit card. Even BicCamera and Yodobashi camera, where a lot of non-japanese make tax free shopping, did not accept my card.
My recommendation is to withdraw cash from the ATM of the 7 bank and pay every where by cash, or your credit card.
You should be able to order either a VISA or a MasterCard from Revolut, you can have 3 cards enabled at once! Note you may be charged a 5-6€ shipping fee for your card!
Visa and Mastercard can also be debit cards. Mine certainly are!
You get discounts at some shops also for using mastercard or visa at some shops.
I would recommend keeping some money on an IC card (suica etc) and also carrying cash, and an actual card. Never hurts to have lots of payment methods!
The Suica card was worth gold in the arcades and at the vending machines. 
MC and VISA is working everywhere, did not have a single issue there! Please note that Maestro type cards may not work outside Europe! (actually, they are popular only in some parts of Western Europe)
offtopic: If you have iPhone you can have virtual Suica and in metro, it is lightning fast just to wave your phone even without unlocking it 
Could you give me some more details into this?
You can see this link on how to get virtual Suica with Suica app if you have compatable iPhone (i think 8 and above) and Apple Pay to get the card. After that you can charge your iPhone Suica at any combini or via Apple Pay. It works also for vending machines.
Here you go:
@Regalia @Vebaev would this work everywhere though? I thought Suica was just one type of IC card for a specific railway, not something you could use literally everywhere.
Edit: I’m referring to shops and also trains, transportation in general, is there any limit on this kind of use either? like the 25€ cap on contactless
In Japan Suica is a big thing you csn use it in railway, metro, combini shops, venfing. Sometimes you will not be anle to use VISA but you can do it eith Suica
Do you have any instant messaging app such as Discord? I would be interested in a longer conversation about Suica, however I don’t want to pollute this thread.
I have WeChat, KakaoTalk, Line, Twitter, Discord, Threema, Kik.
I think a Revolut instant messaging server on something like Discord would be neat too.
Yeah, I know about it. I don’t know why, but for some unknown reason I like to stick with my plastic card. Maybe it is because of those awesome looking anime themed cases you can get for them. 
They have expanded the network. I used it in the arcades, at the vending machines and for the subway.