sbi foreign currency savings acct

[bryanc]

i am receiving some money back from tickets from australia in au$ and was sent to my sbi acct.

they are saying i cant get the money into the acct unless i open a foreign currency savings acct.
i dont really understand why-and also the implications of doing this?
could someone explain? ok to open an acct but if i open in au$ does this mean i cant open another one later in a diff currency?
does the money arrive in the acct in oz$?
sorry but not really understanding why it has to be done like this-seems have to open an acct in next few days or cannot accept the payment..
thanks

[fools_gold]

Are you talking about the SBI Net Bank?

According to this link, the foreign currency savings account is automatically opened when you purchase some of the target currency from within your SBI Net Bank account.

https://help.netbk.co.jp/faq_detail.html?id=5806

[bryanc]

yes-what i dont quite follow is if i choose a currency this time-can i use it for different foreign currencies as well?or is it a separate acct?

[captainspoke]

yes-what i dont quite follow is if i choose a currency this time-can i use it for different foreign currencies as well?or is it a separate acct?

If it's like shinsei, then you have a different sub account for each currency. E.g., you could have a USD, euro, pound, etc., sub accounts, in addition to your yen account. At least for shinsei, per the comment above, to have/get a sub account in a different currency, all you have to do is 'buy' that foreign currency--no paperwork at all. Then on the main balances page, sub accounts will be listed along with the yen one. Sub account value will likely be listed as the foreign currency, then its equivalent yen value based on the day's rates.

[bryanc]

wonderful-thanks-so when i actually want to use the money ( in yen)
i would just buy the rate at that time?otherwise the money would sit in my acct in oz $.

alternatively,can i also hold the money there and use as aus$ if nec?

[captainspoke]

wonderful-thanks-so when i actually want to use the money ( in yen)
i would just buy the rate at that time?otherwise the money would sit in my acct in oz $.

alternatively,can i also hold the money there and use as aus$ if nec?

For the first part (two questions), yes, and yes.

For the last, you can hold that currency indefinitely, but "use" probably needs qualifying. (And I'm not up on this, and no direct experience, so this may not be correct.) At least for shinsei you can directly wire that foreign currency internationally--so one clear use of it.

I'm unsure of shinsei's gaica card when used abroad, e.g., whether a US$ purchase would be debited to that sub account (I think not), or whether it can be charged up with a foreign currency (again, I think not). SBI is likely the same. For shinsei, I think even to buy traveller's checks (or a charged T-check debit card), you'd need to first convert to yen, then buy the checks, so two f/x transactions required...

I think Wise does allow that kind of currency-specific activity.

[bryanc]

thanks-maybe getting off original topic a bit but-i asked about wise in a separate wise thread-it seems maybe i havent understood it correctly..
for this time,its too late but if i want to send money to japan from uk ,wise seems best..does wise not just transfer the money from uk bank to jp bank?
does it hold it in a wise acct in a different currency for future use?