Complimentary overseas remittance via Go Remit

[ChapInTokyo]

Made my first zero commission remittance from SBI Shinsei to my Firstrade account this week.

Getting the 1 free overseas remittance per month status required several steps:

1. Opening an SBI Shinsei Bank account
2. Linking the account to my SBI Securities account via SBI Connect in order to achieve 'Diamond' status at the bank
3. Submitting documents via the camera on the Go Remit app to i) prove where the funds originated (ie. 3 months account history from my Sony Bank USD account which is where I sent the funds to SBI Shinsei from), and ii) prove that the destination account was my investment account (ie. the wire instruction for funding my account, from the Firstrade website)
4. Entering the remittance request on the Go Remit app

After I did that, the remittance went through to Firstrade overnight, and I had an email from Firstrade this morning, confirming receipt.
I was pleased to see that no deductions were made by any correspondence banks either, so the full amount was transferred without any charge whatsoever.

P.S. Oh yeah, I closed my Prestia account this week too, since there was no longer anything that it could do for me that other banks couldn't do better...

[captainspoke]

None in the years since i retired, but previously, Shinsei > US broker was free with the right status. Monthly, as you say, but mine were 2-3 times/year. I had pre-registered the destination account and could then do the transfer with a phone call. (the world before apps... )

Never any intermediary fees or on receipt. Not sure how true it is, but I've read a comment or two that this is since shinsei was previously LTCB, and it retained those direct connections to world/US banking.

There was transferwise then, but I never had reason to try it. No Sony bank then, either.

[ChapInTokyo]

None in the years since i retired, but previously, Shinsei > US broker was free with the right status. Monthly, as you say, but mine were 2-3 times/year. I had pre-registered the destination account and could then do the transfer with a phone call. (the world before apps... )

Never any intermediary fees or on receipt. Not sure how true it is, but I've read a comment or two that this is since shinsei was previously LTCB, and it retained those direct connections to world/US banking.

There was transferwise then, but I never had reason to try it. No Sony bank then, either.

Ah that LTCB provenance might explain it. For a ‘new’ bank I am quite impressed by how SBI Shinsei Bank continues to punch above its weight.

[Telebroker]

Hi, I almost don't want to destroy the excellent experience, but the fees are likely baked into the exchange rate. If you'd do a parallel calculation with the market FX rate of the day of the transaction, I suspect you discover some delta which likely translates into indirect Go Remit fees.
In comparison: (Transfer)wise is much more transparent on fees as they apply the market FX rate and Revolut (within limits) is free at market FX rates.

[captainspoke]

Hi, I almost don't want to destroy the excellent experience, but the fees are likely baked into the exchange rate. If you'd do a parallel calculation with the market FX rate of the day of the transaction, I suspect you discover some delta which likely translates into indirect Go Remit fees.
In comparison: (Transfer)wise is much more transparent on fees as they apply the market FX rate and Revolut (within limits) is free at market FX rates.

"likely"...?!? So you're making a guess?

It's the other way around--Wise bakes the fee into their f/x rates, while Sony/Shinsei are best.

https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/w ... /transfers

And that section of the JapanFinance wiki was made before the past 6-8+ months, when Wise 'adjusted' their 'great rates'. Sony is best there, Shinsei a close second, while Wise is down in the middle of the chart.

If you're transferring small amounts (perhaps regularly), Wise is convenient. Or maybe you don't have the higher account status at Sony/Shinsei. I was sending $15-20k (equivalent at the time). Even today, Wise would not be a poor choice for those kinds of transfers.

[TJKansai]

Hi, I almost don't want to destroy the excellent experience, but the fees are likely baked into the exchange rate. If you'd do a parallel calculation with the market FX rate of the day of the transaction, I suspect you discover some delta which likely translates into indirect Go Remit fees.
In comparison: (Transfer)wise is much more transparent on fees as they apply the market FX rate and Revolut (within limits) is free at market FX rates.

"likely"...?!? So you're making a guess?

It's the other way around--Wise bakes the fee into their f/x rates, while Sony/Shinsei are best.

https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/w ... /transfers

And that section of the JapanFinance wiki was made before the past 6-8+ months, when Wise 'adjusted' their 'great rates'. Sony is best there, Shinsei a close second, while Wise is down in the middle of the chart.

If you're transferring small amounts (perhaps regularly), Wise is convenient. Or maybe you don't have the higher account status at Sony/Shinsei. I was sending $15-20k (equivalent at the time). Even today, Wise would not be a poor choice for those kinds of transfers.

I became a WIse customer last year as my son is studying in Europe. I find it convenient and quick to pay mobile bills, rent and send cash.

[ChapInTokyo]

Hi, I almost don't want to destroy the excellent experience, but the fees are likely baked into the exchange rate. If you'd do a parallel calculation with the market FX rate of the day of the transaction, I suspect you discover some delta which likely translates into indirect Go Remit fees.
In comparison: (Transfer)wise is much more transparent on fees as they apply the market FX rate and Revolut (within limits) is free at market FX rates.

Sorry, I didn't see your message until just now.

I think that if you converted from yen to USD at Go Remit, their spread might have some part of the remittance cost baked in. But in my case, I sent the money from my USD account at SBI Shinsei Bank, so the one remittance gratis per month at Go Remit _really_ was a freebie which made it a pretty hard deal to beat!

[Telebroker]

I became a WIse customer last year as my son is studying in Europe. I find it convenient and quick to pay mobile bills, rent and send cash.

I used to use Wise in the far past, but now mostly use Revolut as I haven't discovered any fees on my sporadic transfers to EUR (below their cost threshold) yet. Albeit I have Sonybank, I don't have any status there. Prefer to earn some interest elsewhere in the meantime

[captainspoke]

Our kids (now adults) have used Wise (I think no problems), and I do understand its convenience for certain kinds of transfers. I also understand that wire transfers can seem both opaque and expensive. But as ChapInTokyo pointed out, the banks do allow multi currency accounts, so you can accumulate and/or hold a foreign currency, until you want make a transfer (in that foreign currency, no foreign exchange necessary).

I do a lot of reading, and and have seen some of these threads in the past, part of the reason for my POV on this. I'm sure it doesn't happen to everyone, or even most, but there can be occasional problems. Eg, a simple search of the JapanFinance sub (reddit) yields the following results:

https://www.google.com/search?client=sa ... 8&oe=UTF-8

[ChapInTokyo]

This is somewhat off topic, but I am in an interesting situation at Sony Bank with regard to my "Club S" status.

As at many other Japanese banks, Sony has a customer status recognition programme where customers who hold a certain amount of yen in accounts such as mutual fund accounts or USD MMF accounts which generate fees for the bank are given a certain number of "free" remittances and preferential foreign exchange rates etc per month.

The thing is, I was somewhat disappointed in Sony Bank's service and had started moving my funds out of the bank late last year so that I was expecting to be stripped of my 'Platinum' status at the end of last year (October 31 being the last 'qualifying date' on which I had the requsite balance in a qualifying Sony Bank service).

The funny thing is, they kept on giving me 'Platinum' status in January, which seemed a bit strange. It will be interesting if I keep getting this status in February as well, in which case it might be a sign that as the BOJ's short term interest rates have started to rise, banks are maybe able to provide preferential services to customers who simply want to keep their money in yen current accounts.

Well, who knows? It may of course simply be an oversight, and they might just as easily strip me of my priviledges come tomorrow...