With rising prices being reported in the news every day, many people are thinking, "I want to reduce my monthly smartphone communication fees even a little!"
povo2.0 offers a service called "#Gigakatsu" that gives you a data bonus when you spend a certain amount or more at participating stores. This is a great option for people who want to save even a little on their smartphones.
This time, we will introduce the overview and usage of povo2.0 's #Gigakatsu, the participating stores, and the type of people for whom this service is particularly recommended.
povo2.0 's #Gigakatsu is a service that allows you to receive data bonuses that can be used on povo2.0 when you purchase products worth a certain amount or receive services at participating stores.
For example, if you pre-register for #Gigakatsu and purchase items worth 500 yen or more (tax included) at a designated convenience store, you will receive a 300MB data bonus valid for three days, or if you spend 2,000 yen or more (tax included) at a designated izakaya, you will receive a 1GB data bonus valid for seven days.
povo2.0 has a basic fees of 0 yen (*1), and allows you to purchase "Topping" that allow for high-speed data communication as needed. Therefore, if you shop at multiple stores participating in the #Gigakatsu campaign and earn data bonuses regularly and systematically, it is possible to reduce your monthly data communication fee to 0 yen (*1).
For more information on #Gigakatsu, please refer to this page.
*1: If you do not purchase any paid Topping for 180 days or more, your service may be suspended or your contract may be terminated.
In addition, if you sign up for five lines * under the same name, a contract administration fee of 3,850 yen (tax included included) per line will be charged for each line from the sixth line onwards.
This includes lines that have been cancelled or have been canceled by our company within the past year. If you do not purchase a data Topping, the maximum sending and receiving speed will be 128kbps.
In this way, povo2.0 's #Gigakatsu campaign allows you to earn data bonuses just by shopping at participating stores. From here, let's take a look at how to actually use #Gigakatsu.
The first method is to receive a data bonus by paying a certain amount or more with au PAY at designated stores.
Specifically, you can earn data bonuses by shopping at participating stores following the steps below.
You only need to enter #Gigakatsu once; you do not need to enter for each participating store or service. For more information on participating stores and the data bonuses you can receive, see the latter half of this article.
*2: Some stores and services are not eligible.
*3: Payments made with au PAY Prepaid Card, au PAY Card, and au PAY Gold Card are not eligible. au PAY payments made via other apps may not be eligible.
The second method is to receive a data bonus by spending a certain amount or more at designated stores. At stores where this method is applicable, you can receive the data bonus without having to register in advance.
Please note that whether you can use the "receive payment with au PAY" method or the "receive payment in store" method will vary depending on the store. For details, please refer to the list of stores introduced later in this article.
As you can see, povo2.0 's #Gigakatsu allows you to receive data bonuses by using the store. It's a convenient system that allows you to save money on your smartphone, but there are some things you should be aware of before using it.
The first thing to note is that the data bonuses you receive through #Gigakatsu have an expiration date. The expiration date varies depending on the number of gigabytes, as follows:
| Data Bonus | Data bonus expiration date *After the code is redeemed |
|---|---|
| 300MB | 3日間 |
| 1GB | 7日間 |
| 3GB | 30日間 |
| 20GB | 30日間 |
Data will be consumed in the following order: Data Bonus* → Data Topping. Also, even if you add a Data Bonus, the data consumption period for Data Topping will not be added together.
*Includes prepaid codes, campaign codes, trade codes, referral codes, and promo codes.
For example, if you purchase the "1GB Data Top-up (7 Days)" data Topping on the same day you receive a 300MB data bonus valid for 3 days from #Gigakatsu, the data will be consumed from the 300MB you received from #Gigakatsu. validity of the "1GB Data Top-up (7 Days)" will not be extended to 10 days.
Please note that if you use a large amount of data within a certain validity, your data speed may be limited during peak hours. In addition, transferring or reselling data bonuses to third parties is prohibited.
The second thing to note is that if you do not purchase any paid Topping for more than 180 days, you run the risk of having your account suspended.
As mentioned above, if you make good use of povo2.0 's #Gigakatsu feature, it is not impossible to reduce your monthly communication charges to 0 yen*1.
However, with povo2.0, if you do not purchase any paid Topping for 180 days or more, your service may be suspended or your contract may be terminated. In other words, you can only use #Gigakatsu and get free monthly data charges for a maximum of about six months.
However, if the total amount of pay-as-you-go calling charges and SMS sending charges during validity exceeds 660 yen (tax included), service will not be suspended or the contract will not be terminated.
povo2.0 offers a variety of paid toppings for different purposes, such as "Data Topping," which allows you to purchase data capacity for high-speed communication, "Call Topping," which allows unlimited calls (*4), and "Content Topping," which allows you to use unlimited Topping for designated video viewing services for a certain validity. If you purchase these Topping as needed, at least once every six months, there is no need to worry.
*4: Calls to phone numbers set by other companies starting with 0570 (Navidial, etc.) to fees, number guide (104) (number guide fee is not free, calls to fees are free), administrative 1XY service (188), # dial (Quick Dial), SMS transmission, calls to satellite phones, and calls to phone numbers specified separately by the Company The Topping service is not available for free calls to international calls and calls made overseas. International calls and incoming/outgoing calls overseas are also not covered. Calling charges are based on the service.
Reference:" Topping List" (povo)
From here on, we will introduce the specific stores that are eligible for #Gigakatsu. Please note that some stores and services are not eligible. Please check the following page to see if the store you are using is eligible.
*The information in this article is current as of February 15, 2024.
Reference:"#Gigakatsu" (povo)
First, let's look at convenience stores. If you have one of the following convenience stores near your home or workplace, you should definitely join the #Gigakatsu campaign.
| Store name | conditions *Payment with au PAY |
Data Bonus | Data bonus expiration date *After the code is redeemed |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWSON / Natural LAWSON / LAWSON Store 100 / Daily Yamazaki | Purchases of 500 yen (tax included) or more | 300MB | 3日間 |
*The above information is as of February 15, 2024.
Next up are restaurants and izakayas. As you can see below, a wide range of establishments are included, from family restaurants to izakayas.
| Store name | conditions | Data Bonus | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gyoza no Ohsho / Sukiya / Hama Sushi / Hidakaya / Matsuya / Matsunoya / My Curry Shokudo / Matsuken Chinese Restaurant / Matsu Soba / Steak House Matsu / Hokka Hokka Tei / Shiobai / Okonomiyaki Monja / Sakana Souhonke / Otafuku / OH! TORO KITCHEN / Kuroyaki Restaurant / Godai / Shoya / Osho Suisan / Marudai Teishoku no Marudai / Tegoneya / Toriya Ebisu / Doremi / Nakanoya / Nihonkai Shoya / Nihonkai / Nombe / Flat / Mimura / Yarukichaya / Sobakura Yui / Saryo Yui / Manten Sakaba / RUMP CAP / First Kitchen / Wendy's First Kitchen | Purchases of 500 yen (tax included) or more | 300MB | 3日間 |
| Uotami, Shirokiya, Sennen no Utage, Yamauchi Farm, Mekiki no Ginji, Warawara, Watami Co., Ltd. brands, Sandaime Torimero, Miraizaka, Yakiniku no Watami, Ushimero, Sushi no Wa, Kodawari Noren-gai, WANG'S GARDEN, and Monte Rosa Co., Ltd. brands | Purchases of 2,000 yen (tax included) or more | 1GB | 7日間 |
*The above information is as of February 15, 2024.
You can participate in the #GigaKatsu campaign at the following cafes. Many of these cafes are nationwide, making it easy to earn data bonuses.
| Store name | conditions | Data Bonus | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doutor Coffee Shop / Doutor Coffee Farm / Doutor Coffee Shop / Excelsior Cafe / Cafe Rexel / Kamino Coffee / Fukuro Books and Coffee / Tajima Bread / Cafe de Crie / Maison de Vert / Cafe Terrace Verte / MIYABI | Purchases of 500 yen (tax included) or more | 300MB | 3日間 |
*The above information is as of February 15, 2024.
The delivery service supports "menu".
| Store name | conditions | Data Bonus | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| menu | Purchases of 500 yen (tax included) or more | 300MB | 3日間 |
*The above information is as of February 15, 2024.
You can also earn data bonuses when shopping at the drugstores, bookstores, etc. listed below.
| Store name | conditions | Data Bonus | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Third Planet | Purchases of 400 yen (tax included) or more | 300MB | 3日間 |
| Welcia Group / Kusuri no Aoki / Sundrug / Dairex / Drug Tops / Create S.D. / Daikoku Drug | Purchases of 500 yen (tax included) or more | 300MB | 3日間 |
| Maruzen Junkudo / OK / Beisia / Cainz / Himalaya | Purchases of 2,000 yen (tax included) or more | 1GB | 7日間 |
| AOKI | Purchases of 7,000 yen (tax included) or more | 3GB | 30日間 |
*The above information is as of February 15, 2024.
#Gigakatsu is also available at some karaoke stores, gas stations, and car accessory stores.
| Store name | conditions | Data Bonus | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Echo | Purchases of 500 yen (tax included) or more | 300MB | 3日間 |
| AUTOBACS / Super AUTOBACS / A PIT AUTOBACS / AUTOBACS Garage / Smart+1 | Purchases of 7,000 yen (tax included) or more | 3GB | 30日間 |
| Art Moving Center | Purchases of 20,000 yen (tax included) or more | 20GB | 30日間 |
*The above information is as of February 15, 2024.
Finally, we will introduce the types of people who would be particularly recommended to use povo2.0 's #Gigakatsu.
The first type is people who want to save on their smartphone data usage.
By making good use of #Gigakatsu, you can significantly reduce your monthly communication charges. For example, if you've been purchasing the "20GB Data Top-up (30 days)" plan for 2,700 yen (tax included), but would like to reduce your monthly communication charges a little more, you can switch to the "3GB Data Top-up (30 days)" plan for 990 yen (tax included) and use #Gigakatsu to make up for the missing data capacity.
In this way, #Gigakatsu is perfect for people who want to reduce their monthly smartphone expenses as much as possible.
The second type is people who use povo2.0 as a secondary line.
#Gigakatsu is also recommended for people who have a separate main line and use povo2.0 in case they run out of gigabytes at the end of the month or their main line is not connecting properly.
If you're using povo2.0 as a secondary line, you probably won't need large amounts of data, such as 20GB or 60GB. povo2.0 also offers validity data Topping, such as "Data Top-up (7 Days)" and "Unlimited data (24 Hours) (*6)." However, for those who want to use high-speed data communication for just a few hours while they're out at the end of the month, they might feel that "1GB is too much" or "24 hours' worth isn't necessary."
Reference:" Topping List" (povo)
For those who want to use high-speed data for just a short period of time, #Gigakatsu, which allows you to earn free data bonuses of 300MB or more when you shop, will be a great help.
*6: Communication speeds may be limited during network congestion or when using video or cloud games.
The third group is people who regularly use stores participating in the #Gigakatsu campaign.
If the store you regularly visit is participating in the #Gigakatsu campaign, there's no reason not to take advantage of it by pre-registering and registering a promo code to receive a data bonus. With just a little effort, you can earn a data bonus every time you visit the store, which also helps you save on your monthly communication costs.
So far, we've explained povo2.0 's #Gigakatsu. #Gigakatsu is the perfect service for people who want to reduce their smartphone data charges, or for people whose regular stores are participating in #Gigakatsu. Use this article as a reference to get started with #Gigakatsu, which will help you save on your monthly data charges.
