Configure the Charge Feature

Overview

The Use Charge Feature toggle lets you choose between two fundamentally different operating models for your e-money. The choice shapes both the value you offer your members and the obligations you take on as a business.

Charge feature on — Prepaid e-money

Members top up a balance and use it to pay. This is the classic prepaid model: holding funds in advance encourages repeat use, helps lock in customers, and works well when combined with point rewards.

Because you hold members’ funds in advance, your service may be treated as a Prepaid Payment Instrument under Japan’s Payment Services Act. Depending on your conditions, obligations such as notification, deposits with the regulator, and refund handling may be required. See Details on the Payment Services Act.

Charge feature off — Points-only loyalty card

You stop handling Charged Balance and run a simple loyalty program centered on Points. You grant Points to members, and members spend those Points at checkout.

This model fits when you want to:

• Digitize a paper stamp card or membership card as-is.
• Focus on visit-based incentives and campaign rewards.
• Keep existing payment methods (cash, credit cards, other QR providers) and digitize only the loyalty layer.
• Avoid holding member funds, so you don’t take on the legal obligations or refund operations of a prepaid issuer.

You can switch between the two models even after launch (a switch requires re-review and a member notification period — see Change E-money Settings After Launch).

Switch the Charge Feature

Open Menu → E-money Settings → Charge, toggle Use Charge Feature, then tap Save. After service launch, confirm the change in the dialog before applying.

⚠️ Switching after launch requires re-review and a member notification period.

What happens to members and operations when you turn it off

• Charge and Gift issuance become unavailable. The Credit Card Charge, Bank Account Charge, Gift, and Cashier Mode charge settings are turned off together with the switch, along with an initial point reward granted on first charge if one is set; the confirmation dialog tells you beforehand.
• Because the switch stops handling Charged Balance, all of the following conditions must be met both when applying and when the review is approved:
  • Every member’s Charged Balance has been used or has expired.
  • Every issued Gift has been received or has expired.
• If a condition is not met, the error message explains what needs to be completed first.
• If a transaction is cancelled during the member notification period and Charged Balance returns, members can still use or refund that balance, but no new balance can be charged.
• If you turn the Charge feature on again, turn each charge method and Gift setting back on as needed.

What members can still do in points-only mode

While the e-money is in points-only mode, you can still grant Points (see Grant Points Remotely and in-person Point Rewards), members can still pay with Points, and Point expiration rules still apply. Screens and items related to new charges hide automatically across the Pokepay Shop App and the member app so the experience stays centered on Points.

Settings you can configure after switching back to prepaid

The Charge screen groups together the settings you need for prepaid operation (they are hidden while you are in points-only mode).

• Charge methods
  • In-person transaction: in-person charge at a shop
  • Credit card: Charge from card (enablement and amount presets are accessed here)
  • Bank Account Charge: Bank Account Charge (enablement, amount presets and the bankbook description are accessed here; see Set Up Bank Account Charge)
  • Gift: Gift feature settings
• Maximum charged balance per member
• Maximum charge amount
• Charged balance expiration

The maximum payment amount is configured from E-money Settings → Payment → Payment limit.

Notes

• You cannot turn off the charge feature while the point feature is off. The two cannot be off at the same time.
• When the charge feature is off, you cannot turn off the point feature from the Points screen.
• Turning off the Point feature similarly requires every Point Balance to be zero both when applying and when the review is approved. If Initial point reward when joining is set, turn it off first. While it remains on, new members continue to qualify for the reward until the switch takes effect. The Point Rebate and Cashier Mode Point Reward settings are turned off together with the switch.
• In Demo Mode there are no balance or outstanding-Gift conditions; instead the switch resets demo data, deleting demo transactions, balances, statistics, and related data while keeping members and other settings.