On 1 September 2026 NTT Docomo announced changes to the standard d Card (d Card GOLD U, GOLD and PLATINUM are not affected). From January 2027 spend, ordinary purchases earn d Points at 1 point per ¥200 (0.5%), down from 1 point per ¥100 (1%). From January 2027 there is also a ¥1,650 annual fee (including tax) in any year that follows a year with no use at all.
What changes and when (Docomo's notice)
| Item | Before | After | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base d Points on ordinary purchases | 1 point per ¥100 | 1 point per ¥200 | January 2027 spend |
| Annual fee | Free | Free, but ¥1,650 if there was no use at all in the previous year | From January 2027 (billed from the February 2028 debit, based on use after January 2027) |
| Phone contactless (Apple Pay, Google Pay, iD) | — | 2 points per ¥200 (1%), only for cards whose number starts 4363, 5344 or 5365 | May 2027 spend |
| d Payment (with d Card as the payment source) | 2 points per ¥200 | 2 points per ¥200 (unchanged) | — |
Some utilities and taxes were already 1 point per ¥200. PLATINUM and the Docomo Poikatsu plans have separate revisions (conditions on points earned on Docomo bills, for example).
Points before and after, by yearly spending
| Yearly card spend | Before (1%) | After (0.5%) | Lost | Recruit (1.2%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ¥0.6M | ¥6,000 | ¥3,000 | −¥3,000 | ¥7,200 |
| ¥1.2M | ¥12,000 | ¥6,000 | −¥6,000 | ¥14,400 |
| ¥2.4M | ¥24,000 | ¥12,000 | −¥12,000 | ¥28,800 |
| ¥3.6M | ¥36,000 | ¥18,000 | −¥18,000 | ¥43,200 |
At ¥1.2M a year, you earn ¥6,000 after the change, ¥8,400 less than the Recruit Card. Money paid through d Payment with d Card as the payment source (2 points per ¥200, effectively 1%) and, from May 2027, phone contactless on cards with the eligible numbers (1%) earn more than 0.5%, so there is still room to keep the card — but both are below 1.2%.
Keep it or leave it
- Leave (move your main card): if d Card is your everyday card. The base falls to 0.5%, and the gap to a free 1.2% card is, depending on spending, a few thousand to tens of thousands of yen a year.
- Keep (use it for one thing): if you use d Payment regularly and have d Card set as its payment source — that stays at 1%. If you spend d Points on Docomo bills, keeping them in d Points is convenient.
- Watch the fee: if you hold the card and barely use it, a year with no use at all triggers the ¥1,650 fee. Cancel it, or decide on one small purchase a year, during 2027.
Docomo plan discounts and the GOLD and PLATINUM conditions are not covered here; check Docomo's pages. To compare with other cards on your own spending, use the credit card rewards calculator. The verdict list is in Credit card verdicts.