Electronic cash most convenient for convenience stores

The oddly-named Softbrain Field Co Ltd (a seller of consumer data collected via users scanning receipts for points) recently conducted a survey into electronic cash usage.

I use my Suica card on my smartphone, and WAON plastic – I’ve tried migrating it to my phone, but I need to input a phone number to register it, but I cannot remember what one I used… I auto-charge my WAON; this feature is that when the balance falls below 3,000 yen, if I use at certain shops, mainly Aeon group companies, it automatically refills with another 3,000 yen. I don’t know if Suica offers that feature on their mobile app, as it has an utterly dreadful interface.

Here’s a WAON train with their mascot dog, although you cannot use WAON to ride a train:

Research results

Q1: Do you use electronic cash? (Sample size=4,458)

Yes	62.9%
No (to end of survey)	37.1%

Q2: Which brand of electronic cash do you use the most? (Sample size=2,804)

Suica, other public transport brand	24.7%
nanaco (7-eleven)	24.0%
WAON (Aeon)	23.2%
Edy (Rakuten)	15.7%
iD (docomo)	4.4%
au WALLET (au)	2.1%
QUICPay (JCB)	1.4%
Other	4.5%

Q3: How many different brands of electronic cash do you currently use? (Sample size=2,804)

Just one	24.4%
Two	33.7%
Three	25.2%
Four	8.1%
Five or more	6.0%
Don’t know	2.6%

Q4: Where do you use electronic cash? (Sample size=2,804, multiple answer)

Convenience store	79.8%
Supermarket	54.9%
Railway	41.9%
Drug store	30.5%
Bus	24.6%
Family restaurant	23.5%
Other restaurant, cafe, etc	14.4%
Internet shopping	11.4%
Electrical superstore	8.9%
Bookshop	7.5%

Q5: How often do you use electronic cash? (Sample size=2,804)

Every day	13.5%
Three or four times a week	24.2%
Once or twice a week	37.6%
Once or twice a month	24.7%

Q6: Do you use auto-charge facility on your electronic cash? (Sample size=2,804)

Yes, for all of them	27.7%
Yes, for some of them	19.2%
No	53.1%

Q7: How much do you usually charge (or auto charge) to your electronic cash? (Sample size=2,804)

1,000 to 3,000 yen	61.3%
4,000 to 5,000 yen	20.9%
6,000 to 9,000 yen	2.1%
10,000 to 20,000 yen	14.2%
21,000 yen or more	1.6%

Q8: About how much per month do you spend using electronic cash? (Sample size=2,804)

Less than 1,000 yen	14.1%
1,000 to 2,999 yen	21.7%
3,000 to 4,999 yen	18.0%
5,000 to 9,999 yen	16.9%
10,000 to 19,999 yen	12.3%
20,000 to 29,999 yen	5.5%
30,000 to 49,999 yen	3.2%
50,000 to 99,999 yen	1.6%
100,000 yen or more	0.4%
Don’t know, don’t check	6.2%

Demographics

Between the 1st and 4th of December 2017 4,458 users of Softbrain’s services who had registered as questionnaire monitors completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.7% of the sample were female, 2.3% were in their twenties, 15.1% in their thirties, 34.7% in their forties, 30.2% in their fifties, and 17.7% aged sixty or older.