US bank that is easy to work - living in Japan

[douglasxwilliams]

Hello all -

Here is my situation:
- currently living in Japan (have been here for ~2 years).
- work visa for 5 years and can be renewed.
- plan to remain in Japan, make it my home. (will be getting married middle of next year)

I have bank accts here in Japan with MUFG/J (for my salary deposit) and Sony Bank for their ease of use in transferring money and having English support online/phone/chat.

I have a US bank account (actually a credit union) that I have used for a long time while living in the US, and still use it. however, they have a difficult time with my updates to foreign address. Their systems just aren't designed to handle foreign addresses. It's kinda sad...but i understand. So..i am thinking of moving all my money from that credit union to another bank in the US...but just wondering if anyone here has had good (or bad) experience with other US banks.

And to note, I use Transferwise to handle all of my US to Japan (and vice-versa) transfers..and they are great to work with.

thanks
...d

[HawaiianBrian]

Charles Schwab. They have an international account you should be able to sign up for, even with a foreign address.

[captainspoke]

If a credit union is okay for your needs, explore this one--used by state department employees, since when they're serving abroad they have the same issues as other expats: https://www.sdfcu.org


I don't think schwab will open a new account for a US expat in japan. While I do have an active account with them, it's old and was grandfathered in, something I got before they added some restrictions later. Eg, they would not allow our US citizen kids to open accounts (and believe me, I pestered them a lot about it).

Charles Schwab. They have an international account you should be able to sign up for, even with a foreign address.

The other 'go to' was IB, international brokers. And the US-based LLC version, not their japan-based subsidiary/version. However, this past spring they stopped accepting/opening new accounts, and there is some hope that they will open back up at some point.

I've read a report or two that people have opened accts with TD ameritrade, done by mail or fax and not online. TDA has been bought and is being absorbed by schwab, so if this is possible, it may be a back door into getting a schwab account.

[Gulliver]

I’ve tried to sign up for a few of the bigger banks in the US this year because I really hate the bank I have now. Unfortunately, they all require proof of US residence. I would be interested to know if anybody has actually found a way around this (recently banking regulations have tightened up).

[douglasxwilliams]

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice!

I used to have a Schwab account...it might still be active, so i might check that out.

[TJKansai]

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice!

I used to have a Schwab account...it might still be active, so i might check that out.

I have a TD Ameritrade account. Still alive it seems (I get email from them) despite being empty for 5-10 years.

[SLW]

I have used and continue to use Citibank. They can accept a foreign address but not sure about opening a new account. At one time, I had Citibank accounts in the Philippines, China, Japan and the US and all were linked and transfers were fast and seamless, but they have sold off many foreign retail banking operations so they seem to be getting less international over time. I now only have the US account and it works fine with a Japan residential address (the Citibank Japan account became a SMBC Prestia account).

I do know of some who use Wise as a pseudo-US Bank. It is not really a bank account but you can do ACH transfers and set up automatic bill pay using a Wise USD account. Another option would be the State Department Federal Credit Union. You need to join American Citizens Abroad (americansabroad.org) for $70 a year but that gives you access to the State Dept. Credit Union and they are supposedly good with foreign addresses for obvious reasons.

Good luck.

[10-7]

Another credit union to consider would be Navy Federal, if you're eligible.
Excellent service and being resident overseas is a non-issue b/c they serve thousands of members in the same situation.
They can handle the foreign address on the account and associated credit cards (note: changing the account address won't automatically change the credit card address...you'll have to specifically ask).
They also have no issue with mailing correspondence or replacement credit/debit cards to your Japan address.
Another thought...you can skip Wise as a middleman and wire USD direct from NFCU to your Sony or MUFG USD account and do the conversion here.
In my experience, this is both easier and cheaper.