RetireJapan

solo7100 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 28, 2023 7:06 am

TokyoWart wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 11:54 am Increasingly US banks are closing accounts if the only address is foreign and some banks now also ferret out the use of forwarding addresses. My understanding is that Navy Federal Credit Union will allow a foreign address but I have not used them. I eventually found that I needed to maintain a physical US address for other financial accounts and so have both Japan and US physical addresses and two different phone plans that allow two factor identification, one using a US phone and the other a Japan phone to match with financial institutions in either country.

Excuse my ignorance, but for your US phone do you mean you have an American phone plan AND a Japanese phone plan just to make this system work? That is another question on my mind....how to have an American phone number for those types of verification purposes. Seems like lots of $$$, but if it works...?

SLW wrote: ↑Mon Aug 28, 2023 7:47 am Thats not how it works. You have to choose one of their addresses that they have established as a mail collection point. These are generally retail mail stores like mailboxes etc. or UPS locations with post boxes. They will scan and upload your mail and you can then choose what to do with it.

But, and I know this because I tried this, you cannot use these mail services as a residential address for very long. Banks know about these mail services and will generally figure out it’s not a residence after a few months and will demand a real residential address. So banks, generally it wont work. However, all my credit cards and mortgage servicer were fine with a digital mailbox as a residential address. I suppose because the “know your customer” laws are applicable to banks and brokerages and maybe not to other financial services? Who knows. But be very careful if you tell your bank this is a residence. Once they figure it out, you have about 30 days before everything is locked. Some banks will close your account and send you a check.