Best banks in Japan

[RetireJapan]

I was a bit surprised at the response to the banking post so far. Not really much breadth of experience, and a lot fewer mentions of the newer online banks.

If I were to do a write-up of banking in Japan, which banks should be featured? I tentatively have Shinsei (despite its recent decline), Rakuten, Seven Bank, Aeon, Prestia as ones to take a closer look at.

Anything else?

[fools_gold]

I quite like Sony Moneykit, though it isn't my main bank. You get 4 free ATM withdrawals per month and 2 transfers. You can hold foreign currencies in your account and you aren't charged for receiving foreign transfers. Their debit card is great overseas too--transactions are free if you're holding that currency in your account. At other banks it's converted to yen with a 2-3% charge on top of the exchange rate.

[mule96]

I used UFJ so far:
Their web-interface is fully Japanese and quite decent compared to other sites, but outside basic banking services, fees tend to be horrible and it is not made for international banking. On a positive note, their online service is quite well linked for setting up automatic stuff through the internet/at terminals (Gym membership, gas/water/electricity etc. I will switch away from them though. If you are in Tokyo, ATMs are everywhere, using ATMs at Combinis is limited now. One reason I stayed at them is that you could still cash in american checks. But that service stopped by the end of may (Any alternatives).

About the free ATM withdrawals. Is that so important these days? Even for me as somebody who uses relatively oft cash, i can easily come by with 2-3 withdrawals a month.

I switch to 住信SBIネット銀行 now - also fully Japanese. The main reason is because I use SBI証券. The hybrid account is very useful. The Web-interface is not that exciting but it does its work. The whole account doesn't use an Inkan, which I like. As an online bank, they relay on other ATMs for cash withdrawal. Getting Rank 3 (7 free withdrawals and 7 free transfers) is easy: 1 JPY on the Hybrid Account, 1 Cent for example in USD and getting the salary received).

You can have accounts in various currencies, and receive money on those, but there is usually a receiving fee of of 25 USD. I could send money from my home country to this account with less costs than transferwise, which is acceptable. But you cant send money outside Japan which remains an issue. For foreign withdrawals they have a debit visa or master card which allows access to corresponding networks. It is not the cheapest alternative but it will do it. I wouldn't say it is the perfect bank, but the flexibility with the SBI証券 nails it for me.

[ricardo]

I use Hiroshima Bank. Two of my employers use it to deposit my monthly pay - one insisted on it. And my house loan is with them.

Fully Japanese with a decent internet banking service. I only use it for receiving salary payments and automatically paying my water bill (and loan). I withdraw cash, when I need it, from their ATMs, which are everywhere here. I rarely need cash - I use Apple Pay with my ANA Visa card or au Wallet card most of the time.

I hardly every do bank transfers, but they do charge.

They’re nothing special but so widespread here that going into a branch or finding an ATM is very easy.

Haven’t tried them with receiving international payments yet. I suspect it will be a hassle and I’ll probably find another way.

[mule96]

Two of my employers use it to deposit my monthly pay - one insisted on it.

Actually that was also why I started using UFJ (and cancelled Shinsei). My employer at one time and my landlord insisted on UFJ.

[Tony]

I currently have accounts with Hiroshima Bank (company helped me set it up when I first arrived), Japan Post (I set up as a separate savings account to put money away and not touch it), Mizuho Bank (had to sign up for it when getting my first credit card) and Shinsei.

Of these I use Shinsei as my main account for salary deposits and cash withdrawals. Everyone complains about their services dropping, but as a Gold Member the only thing that has affected me is the loss of international withdrawals, but I don't think any of my other banks offer that either to be honest.

[ricardo]

I don’t get too excited about banks and can’t find a compelling reason for me to switch, given the requirement to maintain my existing account for some salary receipts anyway.

[Petronius]

I am also changing from Shinsei to 住信SBIネット銀行
The last nail in the coffin was the need for their Gaica card to withdraw abroad.

Having my NISA and IDECO with SBI already that makes everything easier.
On top of what has been said in a previous post (7 free ATM withdrawals, 7 free wire transfers, ATM abroad with cash card) I also find the virtual accounts features very useful.
You can create a bunch of virtual accounts and save money on them. For example I have one for emergency fund, one for my real estate taxes, one for travels etc. I transfer money on them every month and you can have a nice overview on their online platform.

You can also automate wire transfers to and from external banks, which I couldn't do with Shinsei.

[TokyoWart]

If I were to do a write-up of banking in Japan, which banks should be featured?

I definitely recommend including the Postal bank since it can be cheaper and more convenient for a lot of transactions in Japan. When my kids were in elementary school we were required to open a postal bank account for certain transfers to the PTA and one of their clubs because the Postal bank was cheaper for those organizations.

I see you're already considering Prestia (you might want to cover how there is some artificial divide between Prestia and the rest of SMBC). My first account in Japan was through Resona because my company required it. I'm not sure I would recommend them but they've been okay.

[Victor]

I was a bit surprised at the response to the banking post so far. Not really much breadth of experience, and a lot fewer mentions of the newer online banks.

If I were to do a write-up of banking in Japan, which banks should be featured? I tentatively have Shinsei (despite its recent decline), Rakuten, Seven Bank, Aeon, Prestia as ones to take a closer look at.

Anything else?

My recommendation, and one of the things I’m after is as this website is for residents in Japan, focus on interoperability with your home country’s banks.
• Its already been noted that Charles Schwab online checking (US based) provides something such as 0.37% interest with 100% ATM refunds worldwide, and essentially no fees total.
• There are also tons of high interest baring checking accounts such as American Express (US based) at 2.1%, Ally (US based) at 2.1%, Barclays (US based) at 2.1%, etc.
• I haven’t checked (as I'm still in the prep stages for my life in Japan), but as one commenter mentioned home country financial institutions may sever your service if you’re outside of the country. So what about using a agency service which maintains a physical and mailing address for you? (Wyoming agents for example)

So my home country’s banks are my primary, my sub accounts should be Japan based in order to pay local bills and connect with iDeco/NISA/etc.
• What would be the recommended Japanese banks to funnel money through and is there a comparison?
• What about transferring money in and out of Japan, Transferwise and OFX are options, is something better than the other?