"Kokumin Nenkin" Paid by Credit Card

Last night (or the night before?), I checked my credit-card use for the past month and found a sum had been deducted for “KOKUMIN NENKIN.” Yes. when I returned to Japan last April, I applied for an auto payment by credit card. But I was told at the local “nenkin” office in Kyoto that this auto payment would start in October, if my application was approved. I have no idea as to which month this particular payment refers. The “nenkin” website does not reflect real-time payments. It takes them a month to update data. And the “nenkin” agency does not accept inquiries by e-mail because of the information leak incident that happened a few years ago, instead of improving their computer system. They seem to assume every Japanese living abroad has someone back there who can take care of “nenkin” matters. How inconvenient!