Transferring Money Abroad

53 Responses

1. Glad to hear it seems to work well because last time I sent money from the bank it took almost 2 hours! I think I will give transferwise a go this month with the pound being so low Do you know if there is there a limit as to the amount you can transfer in one go?

   1. Have a go with Brastel Remit. They give good rates for remittance. multilingual staff are with them as well. Rates are way better than most of the banks.

      1. Thanks for the tip. Just had a look at this to see what the rates were like. Seems like TransferWise has lower fees and a better rate, at least for the UK.

2. The maximum is 1 m yen. Not too bad. You could make multiple transfers I guess if needed, as the fees are so low 🙂

3. Being a platinum member at Shinsei (until last month) allowed me to make one international transfer a month for free. From what I can tell it was actually free, minus the exchange rate, which Shinsei inflated slightly in their favor (which bank doesn’t?).
   This was enough to cover my needs, but Transferwise does look interesting. Plus I’m a big fan of Skype, a company that did really take the costs of international communication down, so this makes it even more interesting to me, knowing it’s a former skype employee.

4. Been transferring money overseas from Japan for ages, and from personal experience this is how I would rank them. Do note that the ranking is based upon how had been siphoned off while the money makes its way to the destination.
   (1) TransferWise
   1%. Most of which comes from their service fees. We as consumers get an exchange rate that is very close to the interbank rate. My new favourite best friend.
   (2) Rakuten Bank
   Around 3%. The bank takes it cut through service fees and an inflated exchange rate. A necessity if intending to file a year end tax adjustment for dependents residing overseas.
   (3) Shinsei GoRemit
   Around 10%. Same as Rakuten Bank, but with much higher services fees and inflated exchange rates.
   (4) BitCoin
   Around 10%. BitCoin exchanges on both ends take their service fees, while changing to and from BitCoin will have horrible exchange rates due to liquidity issues. So much for revolutionizing money transfers.

   1. Great to see the numbers. Fantastic comment!

   2. How does JP post rate? That is what I used the last few times. Relatively easy. Fee is only 2000 yen. Not sure about the exchange rate but it’s not too terrible to the market value the last few time I exchanged cash.

      1. Hi Bob
         Right now the JP post rate is 103.60 yen to the USD and Transferwise is 99.
         Transferwise fee is 1%, 500 yen minimum.

   3. Wow I didn’t realise GoRemit was such a bad deal. I signed up a while ago but havn’t used them yet. The fact that they mentioned they “only” charge 2000 yen and then hidden in the small print, it mentions plus charges from intermediary banks, without any details about what those charges are was making be a bit concenred. Thanks for the comment, and thanks RetireJapan for the TransferWise post – looks great!

      1. The JP post appears much worse than the GoRemit rate, then, so maybe it should fall in the rankings. Today’s GoRemit rate is 103.04 and Transferwise is 102.025, a spread of 0.79. Transferwise is still better and has a lower fee, but it looks like GoRemit is much better than the JP post if the Transferwise-JP post spread listed above of 4.60 is accurate.

      2. That’s a good point, Ryan. I guess it depends on what the total charges are for JPost and GoRemit… (including charges by the receiving bank, etc.).

      3. As I wrote in a comment lower, it appears TradeWise’s fee is only lower than GoRemit’s for smaller amounts. GoRemit would actually be cheaper than TradeWise today for any amounts of 1,000,000 yen or more. We’ll see what the receiving fees are on the US side, however.

      4. USD seems to be good for GoRemit. Just checked using the site calculators, and 1m yen is 9,685.56 for GoRemit and 9,688.16 for TransferWise.
         However, for GBP, 1m yen is 7,260.29 for GoRemit and 7,414.36 for TransferWise.
         Probably worth playing with the calculators for your own currency and see what comes out.

   4. Regarding Bitcoin, fees from exchanges (e.g., Kraken, Bitflyer, Gemini…) are usually about .15%. Using two exchanges gets you .3% (still much better than the 1~5% of other services).
      Liquidity hasn’t been a problem for me during the past year of transferring money this way, so total fees are usually around .4% for me. (As an aside, I usually just wait till the price of Bitcoin goes up and convert it to USD then… but this is a bit of a gamble, particularly if people want the money quick. I’m often willing to wait months… that said, I can also get the money to my US account in 2~4 days with only a .4% fee if I want.)

      1. Hi Earth
         Not sure I am brave enough to go there, but might be a good option. Thanks!

5. Oh, I am so bookmarking this. Still in the process of transferring a lump of funds back home slowly and have been begrudgingly using the Japan Post system. You’d think that they’d get faster about the process if you send money semi-regularly, but nope (at least not in the branch I use). Do you get a little something if I use your link?

   1. Yep, using that link gets you a free transfer and a small commission for the site 😀
      I’m super excited about this service. The next time I need to send money to the UK it’s going to take about 30 seconds to make the transfer!

      1. Just a comment, but it only takes me about 30 seconds to send money via GoRemit, so the speed factor doesn’t seem to be much of a benefit. My funds are also available in the US the same day. Will definitely try Transferwise, though, as the fees appear to be lower. Looking forward to a good experience!

      2. Hi Ryan
         I’m not familiar with GoRemit. Can you make a transfer to a new person just as easily?
         That’s one big benefit to TransferWise. Once you are set up on the system, making a transfer to a new bank account is just as quick.

      3. GoRemit is the Shinsei service that they purchased from Lloyds several years ago: http://www.shinseibank.com/goremit/en/. I assumed it was the one you were referring to in your original entry when you mentioned Shinsei, but checking now I see that the link is different. I set up my account over 15 years ago and at that time it was a bit cumbersome, but I have no idea how difficult the process is now. Sorry. After my TransferWise transfer goes through I’ll write a quick review.
         Just going by fees, however, TransferWise appears to be cheaper for smaller amounts with the difference slowly disappearing as the amount gets larger:
         e.g.
         100,000 yen transfer
         TransferWise rate savings over GoRemit – 790 yen (102.025 vs. 103.04)
         TransferWise fee – 990 yen
         GoRemit fee – 2,000 yen
         TransferWise savings – 1,800 yen
         1,000,000 yen transfer
         TransferWise rate savings over GoRemit – 7,900 yen
         TransferWise fee – 9,901 yen
         GoRemit fee – 2,000 yen
         GoRemit savings – 1 yen
         The big difference, however, is that through GoRemit a Tuesday morning remit from Japan will arrive in my US bank account on Tuesday morning US time at the latest, and sometimes before bank closing time on Monday. TransferWise tells me to expect my transfer to complete on Friday US time. We’ll see how long it really takes, though.
         Once the transfer goes through I’ll see if my bank charges its normal $12 fee on the US side. If so, TransferWise may not be that great of a deal unless you’re sending smaller amounts and don’t mind waiting. It may be easier to register new destination accounts as well.

      4. Great comment, that makes it a lot clearer.
         My UK bank didn’t charge a fee because it just received a normal domestic transfer, not an international one. I would hope a US bank would be the same.
         Let us know how you get on!

      5. What is the limit for GoRemit? Their website doesn’t say, only that the initial limit is set at 300,000 per transaction, 300,000 per month, and 3.6 million per year and it can be changed, but doesn’t specify the limits.
         TransferWise maximum per transaction is 1m yen.

      6. I can’t remember if the GoRemit limit is 1,000,000 or not, but it’s not lower than that. I sent about 2,000,000 one time several years ago, but I can’t remember if they charged me for one or two transactions at the time. Might be worth contacting them about that.

   2. Just FYI: A few transfers ago (at JP-post), once we had filled out all the paperwork they printed us about 5 pre-filled out forms which saves a good bit of time.

      1. The main benefit for me, more than the monetary saving, is being able to do a transfer in 30 seconds from my home computer.
         Once you are registered and have the destination information inputted (the system remembers), it’s basically a couple of clicks.
         Nothing beats that. The cheaper fee and better exchange rate is just a bonus.

6. My first year or two in Japan, over 20 years ago, I got hit with a fee from the bank here and then somewhere along the line another $50 or so was siphoned off. A long investigation on my part found the receiving bank in the states claiming the money was removed by the Tokyo bank and the Tokyo bank claiming it was the US bank. Once I found out about the PO, and was able to enlist a friend’s help, I bought money orders, mailed them to my friend and she deposited them in my CU account. We were both members of the same CU, so it was pretty convenient all around. I still do it now and then, but since the PO here now only allows the big branches to do money orders, it’s a hassle. Previously, I used to go to the same small PO branch every month, so they knew me and knew what to do. NOW, I think I will try out this new method! Thanks, Ben!

   1. Hi Mary
      My pleasure! Hope you are as impressed as I was 🙂

7. I use PRESTIA SMBC, they charge 2000 Yen, seems exchange rate is not good, also I have to mail them instructions each time…
   TransferWise sounds great, thanks!!!

8. Sounds like a great option, thanks. I used xe.com to transfer money one time. It was a lot better than the banks, but then they stopped the service, presumably because of Japanese regulation. I’m going to check this one out.

   1. Hi Brian
      Hope you like it as much as I do. Let us know how you get on 🙂

      1. Just did my first transfer via transferwise. Much easier than sitting for hours in the bank as they figure out (again) how to down international transfer. And much better rate, too. Think this is definitely the way to go.

9. Good to hear! I am a huge convert already. I’m actually looking forward to sending me brother money in Sweden now 🙂

   1. I know what you mean. I am now checking exchange rates almost hourly!

10. How about sending from abroad to Japan? Can Transferwise be used in the opposite direction?

    1. Yep. You just reverse the process: make a domestic transfer to their account in the other country, and they send the money to you from their account in Japan 🙂

       1. I looked for the rates USD to Yen, on the list but see nothing about USD to Japan, only the reverse!?

       2. You are absolutely right, Fuu! It seems they don’t have transfers into Japan operating yet.
          I signed up for updates, so will post again on the blog if the situation changes.

11. Under this website: Home > Good to Know > What is TransferWise?
    it states that:
    *All payments to ZAR, all payments to JPY and payments to USD over the equivalent of £24,000 are sent via SWIFT payment and will most likely carry additional banking cost.
    So does this mean I will have to pay additional fees to send money from Japan to the US (I guess if the payment is over about $300?). Does anyone know how much these will be? I currently use the post office system and it really is a bother and takes a long time so I’d much rather use this system but it’s scary not knowing how much more it might cost beyond their 1% fee.

    1. Hi Jenifer
       You can see the rates and fees on the site without making an account. Just play with the box on the top right.
       24,000 GBP is over 30,000 USD, so over the 1 m yen limit for personal transactions. I suspect it may be referring to business payments.
       Hope that helps!

       1. Oh, thanks for the clarification! I was thinking 240 pounds for some reason, even though I wrote out 24,000! Yes, that makes sense. And it’s nice to see all the comments on the website about people using TransferWise and reporting on it.

12. What if I don’t have a My Number but am still signing up from Japan?

    1. All residents of Japan have a My Number: you can find it on your jyuuminhyou if you don’t have the card or the temporary paper card.
       If you have some special circumstances I’d contact TransferWise and see what they say 🙂

       1. Hmm… I don’t recall getting a MyNumber but I will certainly check. Thanks!

13. Have now finished two transfers with TransferWise after having used GoRemit for a little shy of 20 years and here are my thoughts:
    1) Fees: As mentioned above, including the average about 1% added to the base exchange rate for GoRemit, the fees for TransferWise are better. The difference decreases and/or disappears the larger the amount sent, but my US bank adds a $15 transfer fee to the deposit from GoRemit and not from TransferWise, so advantage TransferWise.
    2) Ease of use: It’s easier to set up the initial deposit account with TransferWise, however this is only for the first transfer. After that, TransferWise requires a two-step process of registering each individual transfer on their website and then sending the transfer. All you have to do with GoRemit is send the money and it’s all taken care of. The upside for TransferWise, however, is more flexibility in where you can send the payments. If you value flexibility, advantage TransferWise–if you value a one-step transfer process, advantage GoRemit.
    3) Speed: GoRemit’s transfers happen almost instantaneously. If you send the money before 3pm Japan time, when banks close, the money will be in the foreign account essentially the moment banks are open in your home country. You really can’t get any faster. TransferWise, on the other hand, appears to take between two to four days for a transfer to complete. Advantage GoRemit.
    My conclusion is that TransferWise is probably the best choice for most people sending money. If you’re sending smaller amounts, value low fees, and your transfer isn’t time sensitive, it is a very good choice. If you are sending amount around about 1,000,000 yen or more and need the money there fast, then GoRemit could be the best choice. I’ll probably continue to use both services in the future.

14. Hi Ryan
    Fantastic! Thanks for the detailed write-up. I’ll include your comments in the comparison page I’m planning 🙂

15. Anyone have any suggestions for best way of moving about £50000 from UK to Japan?
    Where’s the best place to find out about this 1 million yen limit / tax stuff?
    (Looking to transfer some savings to purchase house)

    1. Hi arty
       Congrats on the house purchase. Your UK bank should be able to do this on any scale (it will cost you though).
       There should also be specialist companies. Google search in the UK should help.
       You can make the transfer to a yen account and it will be converted to yen, or you can send it to a GBP account (like Shinsei offers) and it will stay in pounds until you convert it. For such a large sum I recommend checking the rates and seeing which one is better.
       In terms of tax the Japanese tax office is likely to ask you where you got the money. According to a friend of mine, the best answer is ‘it’s money I had’, as this will incur no tax (unlike inheritance, investments, etc.). Your mileage may of course vary here.
       Hope that helps!

16. Thanks.
    So it seems as long as the money has a legitimate source (savings from work outside Japan), one shouldn’t have to pay tax.
    A superficial look at transferwise’s calculator suggests that they can do amounts from UK to Japan of up to 140000000JPY, so £50k should be doable. Don’t particularly like the idea of paying £250 to do so, even if it’s much better than a bank would do – never liked the idea of percentage fees – I can’t see how it cost’s them twice as much to transfer £100k as £50k, but I guess they need to take a fee somehow if they’re going to provide a service.
    Otherwise withdrawing the max allowance on a fee-free, mastercard-rate credit card each day is going to take forever…

    1. Yes, savings from work done outside Japan before you were resident for tax purposes should do the trick.
       I’d check the exchange rate on the Mastercard, but agree it’s a bit like the comment on the FB page about the guy dismantling his house one tile at a time and throwing it in the rubbish… more trouble than it’s worth!

17. Curious if you wanted to give a one-year update on using TransferWise in Japan and any recent changes.

    1. Not a huge amount to report. So far so good for me. I have used TW to send money to the UK, and to my daughter in Singapore. Pretty painless. Had to give them my My Number for a recent transfer, as they weren’t asking for it when I signed up.
       Read something yesterday on Reddit about them maybe changing how they would do transfers into Japan, but haven’t followed up. I pretty much only use it to send money out.

    2. I’ve been using it for almost a year as well and am pleased overall. It’s still slower than many other options, but has sped up and usually arrives in the final account within three days. Definitely the best option if not in a hurry.