SBI Holdings has rolled out a crypto rewards credit card in Japan through a partnership with Visa, offering cashback in BTC, ETH, and XRP. Standard users can earn up to 2.5% of their spending back in cryptocurrency, while gold cardholders may raise that rate to 10%, depending on spending levels and active promotional terms. The company said the earned assets will be sent directly to users’ wallets for blockchain use.
Cashback structure ties spending to direct wallet payouts
The card is built around a simple proposition: everyday purchases can generate crypto holdings instead of conventional points. Standard-tier users receive lower rewards, while gold cardholders can access higher rates if they meet spending thresholds and qualify under current campaigns. SBI said the BTC, ETH, and XRP earned through the program will go straight into customer wallets rather than remaining inside a closed rewards system.
In the company’s statement, the Visa partnership was framed as a way to bring digital assets into daily commerce. It said customers in Japan will be able to earn Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP through purchases, giving digital assets a new dimension in ordinary spending activity.
XRP remains central to SBI’s broader digital asset strategy
The report links the launch to Japan’s rapid shift toward digital payments, a trend that could expand public exposure to cryptocurrencies. SBI Holdings has long maintained a strong presence in digital assets and blockchain, and XRP is described as a central part of the group’s financial ecosystem strategy. That makes the new card more than a rewards product; it also adds another payment-facing use case for XRP.
The same report says SBI Holdings is also in talks to acquire Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank. If that move goes ahead, it could speed up consolidation in Japan’s crypto sector and increase SBI’s influence over the domestic market structure.
Retail payment networks could widen real-world use for XRP
Interest in XRP is also rising on the retail side. As Rakuten Wallet deepens its XRP integration, the volume of retail transactions involving the token is said to be increasing. The report estimates that Japan has about 44 million Rakuten Pay users, with nearly $23 billion in reward points circulating through the system. At that scale, tighter integration with XRP would create a sizable real-world retail opportunity.
Analysts cited in the report say the expansion of crypto reward card programs, paired with exchange infrastructure and retail payment integration, could push XRP beyond its role as a tradable asset and into everyday spending in Japan. With usability spreading across more platforms and payment networks, Japan is being cast as an early venue for practical cryptocurrency payment experiments, and SBI’s latest move is being treated as a notable industry step.