Tips for Banking- As Exchange student.
 

Hi all again,

SO i got the tips i needed to set up a cell phone while in japan..now i'm here to find out what i can about banking and setting up my finances in Tokyo as my 4 month adventure will begin in about a month.

What's a good bank to set up an account at for a "gaijin"? I did a little digging and found that CITI bank has Operations in Japan..is that the best bet? or what other options do i have that will make life easier?

Also, after talking to my dad an accountant...he told me the best way to take money over there is in a form of a foreign draft written out in Yen? I'm pretty sure i get what it is...but im wondering if all banks in japan will be able to cash it as there are banks i've read (not Japan in particular) that are stingy about drafts because of security/fraud issues. Anyone do this before?

Anything else i would need to know about banking in Japan?


Thanks

Any of the major Japanese bansk is fine after you have a Gaijin card (i.e. Alien Registration Card). I use Mizuho which is close to where I live and work, but Sumitomo or Tokyo-Mitsubishi are also huge. Citi bites for lack of branches and I would avoid it.

As for bringing money over here the easiest and safest and that which allows you to exhange it when the rates are favorable in increments is travelers checks. A stack of $100 travelers checks and you are set. Amex checks are easy to get in the States and work like a charm here. If you have an account here they will cash them on the spot. If you do not yet have an account when you wish to exchange some of them, there are several exchange counters in the metropolitan area that charge very little commission and have the same rate as banks.

Mike

If your Japanese is not so good, and if you're in a major city where there's a branch, get an account at Shinsei Bank. It's owned by foreigners, all of the documentation is in fairly comprehensible English, and they have English-language phone support and online banking.

For your initial cash requirements, you can use a foreign ATM card (with a Plus or VISA logo) to withdraw yen at any post office or 7-Eleven ATM.

Besides travelers checks, you could also consider a wire transfer from your home bank to your Japanese bank. Most banks will not let you send money to Japan without appearing at the branch back home, so you would either have to leave the money with your dad and have him wire it to you, or give him a power of attorney to run your account while you're in Japan. There are fees, but it won't be any more expensive than obtaining and cashing a bank draft: it's also more secure than carrying around a piece of paper which you might lose. It takes about two days to process an international wire.

Personally considering you're here for only 4 months my advice would be as long as you have a debit card which has a cirrus symbol on it DONT BOTHER with setting up a bank account. ANY AND I MEAN ANY post office will let you withdraw cash from back home and the fees are usually not too bad. It also works at 7/11. With the 7/11 and Post Office and especially cos you're in Tokyo you should not be short of places to get cash from your account in the states. Opening a bank account is a lot of hassle and time and wasted effort for such a short period. The only time that a bank account comes in to it's own is when you need to pay utility bills on a monthly basis but you won't be doing that so it's a non issue.

Secondly DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BRING OVER A BANKERS DRAFT OR CHEQUE. My friend brought one and it took him a good few weeks to get it cashed and get his hands on the cash. The Japanese do not have very good links with the International bank system in respect of things like that and it's only in the past 2 - 3 years that nation wide cash withdrawal at post offices has become common place.

-mrploddy

I second the recommendation for Shinsei. Avoid the regular Japanese banks like the plague, they're so much more of a hassle.

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was an exchange student in Kyoto, the people from our program walked us over to a local branch of Fuji Bank and helped us set up accounts. Have you checked to see if your program provides any support?

Japanese banks(or Canadian banks;)), avoid them if you can.........

Fuji Bank? Is that the one that merged with another one sometime in the late Tokugawa Bakufu?

As everyone said, if possible, try and avoid the Japanese banks.

I found Mizuho was particularly difficult to deal with unless you're very proficient in Japanese because all of the documentation is in Japanese, they require you fill out the forms yourself in Japanese, and you'll need a hanko.

Citi JP was okay to deal with, but I don't think they'll work for your purposes since they aren't closely linked with Citi US and also have a minimum balance requirement (last year it was Y1,000,000 and I imagine it's still the same).

Alex

Posted twice. Sorry.

So, what i got is that i should avoid Bank Drafts completely..and no CITI bank..ok.

My issue is how to get money exchanged into yen....i mean i could use an atm with my debit card from the states, but having traveling internationally to asia frequently, it usually has high fees involved. But it's getting better over the past couple years i've traveled. ( Do you get good rates at the post office and what's the fee or does it depend on the bank)

And Traveler's checks, i was planning on getting some, but i wasn't planning on relying on them as much.

Wiring money could be a possibility, but the thing is US banks charge heavy fees just to wire money over. I was looking up for my friend that needed to wire money over soon to pay for her housing deposit, and at Bank of America it costs 45 USD, just to do the transfer. Receiving the money is free, but
sending the money might cost a fortune. I saw that Washington mutual here in the states does international wire transfers for free...but there are intermediary fees which i don't know how much those will be. (It might be a better deal than BOA) Also, im looking into Wells Fargo, which seems to have a pretty comprehensive foreign/international exchange program

I think that shinsei bank looks good..i'll dig up some more stuff on it.

Thanks for all the replies

Really? Even during the Bakufu, Fuji (now part of Mizuho IIRC) didn't require a hanko (at two separate times in my life I've had "sign kouza" with them, and I have never owned a hanko).

When I arrived, the HR people from my office told me I needed the hanko to open the Mizuho account. It may not be absolutely necessary, but unlike the Citi application I filled out, Mizuho only had a space to hanko, and didn't have a space to sign.

Also, when I closed my Mizuho account, they didn't ask for any identification. All I had to do was hanko and they handed me my balance in cash :o

Alex

Yep, you can probably sign in that space (don't know for sure with Mizuho, but that's been my experience).

HR people, particularly at Japanese firms, are not generally renowned for their ability to "think outside the box".

What, are you saying that Canadian Banks haven't improved? ;P Explain then why I can use my ATM cards in Japan? :D :rolleyes:

Sanosuke!

My daughter was in Spain for spring semester last year, and we set up a new bank account before she left and we both had internet access to it. We called around to local banks - not the major banks - and found one that had a $1/per withdrawal fee. I believe there are some smaller banks that have no fees. I was able to deposit money here and check the balance, and she had no issues with withdrawals. I think the two major bank networks are Cirrus and Plus, so you just need to look for atms with the right logo. It's much more convenient than setting up a new account in a foreign country. My other suggestion is to have a backup plan. My son was just in both Greece and the UK, and he wasn't able to use the primary card that we had planned while he was in Greece and had to use his backup (with the $5/withdrawal fee @ WF). The primary card worked fine in the UK. Even if you had to use a card with the higher fee, it would still be cheaper than wire transfers, and in Spain we were warned that with the language barriers and very similar names of banks, sometimes the wire transfers are lost for weeks. Have a fabulous trip!

I will add Newspaper people to this line of thought too.

I haven't opened an account yet (that's for the week after next when I'm back with my shiny three-year visa) but I know a guy that just opened a Shinsei account. It was apparently super-easy: they have English-language online banking, you don't need a stamp, and they refund all your Japanese ATM fees.

(1) Try to do without a Japanese bank account for such a short time and just draw with your international ATM card - for that, you can indeed rely on CITI ATMs which are connected to the international networks. Not every ATM is.

(2) If you want an account, try the traditional Japanese banks. Frankly, it's medieval banking (lots of paperwork, stamps everywhere, office ladies in uniforms...) and quite mad. And most of the time, you would be asked for a registered hanko - although I managed to open my SMBC account without.

(3) Go for Shinsei - I am with them now, and it is a pleasure!

It's quite obvious you've never used Shinsei. When I just arrived in the country, I registered at the ward office and got one of those certificates (I forget the Japanese name but I think it's like the certificate of registered matters). I then went to a Shinsei branch with my passport and an hour later I had my cash card. The only other time I was in a branch was when I had to change my address. I didn't even use my hanko.

Then there was my experience at Mizuho. I had filled out half of the account opening form in Japanese when one of the office ladies asked me if I understood romaji, then she took the form from me and made me write everything again in romaji :rolleyes: I was then asked how long I had been in the country, if I had a job, why I wanted an account there, if I had a hanko, and if a Japanese friend could come to ensure I understood the intricacies of a savings account :rolleyes::rolleyes: (basically they tried everything short of saying "no" to get me to leave). To be fair, they were quite persistent in trying to get me to apply for a credit card. After I left with my bankbook and everything, they called me. In their haste to ensure I didn't write Japanese, they didn't ask about the furigana for my name :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

If everyone's experience is as painfree as mine was at Shinsei, I recommend it. There are no account minimums nor are there any withdrawal fees (moreover, they reimburse you for withdrawals). I have yet to pay them any money. Once, a day before a vacation, I went to withdraw money (using a foreign ATM card). The card got eaten and the staff weren't able to get it back. It took me a month to get a replacement. I know people whose ATM cards have broken or have been lost and they were able to get replacements the same day they reported it.

semi-OT but what is the official status of yucho ginko now? Before it wasn't a bank, but is it now? Obviously they're calling it a bank (and it was accompanied by an expensive rebranding effort), but is it actually a bank?

Overruled...

Transfer of funds between Shinsei and Deutsche Bank (Germany) has always been a matter of two to three days for me - in both directions.

Shinsei also has the link with Yucho (Post Office Bank), which means you can use all their ATMs - on top off all thousands of 7Eleven ATMs, and just about any other ATM.

But as I said, for OP doing without a Japanese bank account for a few months would probably be the least hassle.

As far as I know, Yucho wants to be a normal bank now and they are discussing integrating their systems into the IT link of the main Japanese banks, which should help with transfers and the like in the future.

DECISIONS..DECISIONS!!..I just thought that by opening an account, i could in effect keep track of my spending and stuff like that. If i use like travelers checks like a lot of you have suggested, it might be harder at least for me to keep track of how much i spend. And for some reason, living for four months off travelers checks feels a bit weird.

I was planning on bringing enough Yen for the first couple weeks and get an account set up right away when i get there...so then my parent's could wire transfer money over. + bring some travelers checks.

Does anyone know how much it costs to use my ATM card in Japan? Around how much would it cost to withdraw money using my international bank cash card such as Bank of America? And does it give favorable exchange rates? I've done it in other countries but just not Japan

Right now im leaning still towards opening a Shinsei account..I was looking at the website and it says i cannot be a "temporary visitor"...My student visa would not be under that category right?

my second option would be to withdraw money using my bank card from home.

Off the top of my head, there's a fee of $2-3 and they take a 2-3% spread on the exchange rate. If you wire transfer money or deposit a foreign check, the exchange rate spread is usually 1% or so. This makes the ATM more economical for smaller sums of money and interbank transfers more economical for larger sums.

One solution is to get a credit card from CapitalOne. Their entry-level card, with no fee but a sky-high APR (make *sure* you pay your bill), is really easy to get even without a credit history. You can use it in Japan without fees, and the exchange rate spread is just 1%. Credit cards are not as ubiquitous here as they are in the US, but you can still put train tickets, groceries, clothes, etc. on your card.

No, it wouldn't be. Temporary visitor is the status you get when you enter as a tourist.

For the record, although Shinsei won't let you open an account as a temporary visitor, most other banks don't care about your visa status as long as you have a certificate of alien registration. I know for a fact that SMBC gives accounts to temporary visitors, and I'm pretty sure MUFJ does as well.

So are you suggesting that he go through the SMBC or MUFJ? Even after what Acregal and others have wrote?

Overruled

Hold yer horses Q....

The way I read it, Joe was stating that the student can open an account at Shinsei (since student visas aren't the same as "temporary visitor" status). However, for the sake of giving complete answer, Joe states that even "temporary visitors" aren't barred from opening accounts at other banks.

As for the $80,000 transfer. I agree that SMBC did a shoddy job in communicating with your friend. I understand that Banks are required to check the reason for transfers that exceed a certain amount. I think it's the same amount of cash and monetary instruments that you're allowed to bring through customs when entering the country. The rule exists in order to prevent money laundering. I'm sure the yakkies find their activities severely hampered this regulation. (... not).

However, when it comes to the amounts that a student will typically transfer, there is little chance that it will trigger a money-laundering alert. Over the years I've made quite a few transfers -- of a few thousand dollars each time -- to and from the UK. Transfers from my MUFJ account in Tokyo now reach my HSBC account in Leeds on the same day. I haven't had a problem in the last 8 years.

I have to say that I found it very reassuring during my student days to know that my parents could easily transfer some money to my Sumitomo bank account. These days, I guess the OP can achieve the same by having his parents tranfer the money to his US bank account - and then go to an ATM that allows him to use his US cards. (That wasn't really an option when I was a student and the continents hadn't yet shifted into their current configuration).

Finally -- Even if the Japanese bank experience is as awful for the OP as it has been for some of the people in this thread, I think it would still be a worthwhile exercise for the OP to open an account and see what it entails. The fact that you can be fussed over for half an hour, thanked profusely, given a gift (perhaps some soap, a pen, some tissues etc.), given a cute little bank book with cartoony characters... and yet still feel underserved because the fundamental services that you want are missing... that's a valuable cultural experience and lesson that can be applied to many service industries in Japan.

Exactly. With a student visa and alien registration certificate, one should be able to open a bank account anywhere in Japan.

I'm just noting that Shinsei has issues with customers who don't have working/student visas (counterintuitive, given that they're otherwise the most gringo-friendly bank in the country).

To the original poster: Make SURE to go to city hall as soon as practical after you arrive, register with them and get a certificate of alien registration. You need this to open a bank account anywhere, and you will also need it to get a cell phone (if that's on your agenda).

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...671&highlight=

;)

everything seems so complicated..cell phone, money/banking. I just want to get there and have a great experience. I hope that all this stuff won't be as difficult as it sounds. There's so much stuff to do, im planning on changing my UA award to an earlier date instead of the designated date for arrival by the school.

Is the city hall based upon the prefecture that i live? I'm going to be living near the Machiya station. Or is there one for the entire Tokyo?
could anyone provide me with a link of city hall in and around the Tokyo area?

Thanks for all your help..it's greatly appreciated. So much great insight!

Don't stress out about this stuff!

Yes, getting your alien registration card can be a bit annoying, and the procedures for getting a cell phone and bank account could be easier, but you'll get it done.

Presumably there will be other people arriving with you, and they'll all need to go through the same process. You'll figure it out, and probably get some humorous stories out of it--I certainly did.

I also tried to plan for a lot of these things before I left for Japan, but you really can't. It's still largely a mystery to me but the country as a whole functions extremely well, and stuff like this tends to work out. (As an aside, be grateful you don't have to deal with the phone company).

Just keep in mind that sometimes the rules/procedures may be completely arbitrary and accomplish no discernible purpose, but they're the rules, and you have to do it that way. If you play along, you'll be fine.

Alex

Tokyo is not a city--it's a prefecture, sort of. The city you live in would be the last thing in your address before "Tokyo." I think Machiya is in Arakawa City but I'm not sure... if your address is in Arakawa then your city hall is here:
http://www.city.arakawa.tokyo.jp/for...lish/0004.html

You can get to any Tokyo city government web site by going to www.city.XXX.tokyo.jp where XXX is the name of the city. Or just google the city name...

Thanks!!