robster wrote: ↑Mon Jul 05, 2021 10:56 am
Were those transfers all under 1mil yen？I have used Wise in the past for larger amounts, and the receiving back in Japan charged 4,000yen each time. (even with the 4,000yen fee, the cheaper currency conversion rate from Wise still makes it a good deal).
Yes, but I'm not sure how the virtual accounts work with larger amounts. That is the real game changer.
Previously large transfers had to be done via Swift, so they were just sent normally as international transfers to Japanese banks (unlike smaller amounts, which are routed through Wise's network). That is where that 4,000 yen fee came from. Shinsei charged me a similar fee when I sent money there from my NatWest account in the UK.
Update on that ... last week I sent around 750k yen (converted from euro) via Wise to my account in MUFG ... Wise charged a fee of 31 euro, gave as always an excellent conversion rate, and this time the receiving bank charged no fee.