RetireJapan

Deep Blue wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 4:04 am That is surprisingly much better than expected. But I thought they charged a flat rate charge too? Their website seems to suggest 1 yen per dollar for all sells and then buys are charged at between 0.3 yen and 1.0 yen per dollar depending on your account type.

That has not been my experience. I have a Prestia Gold account (at least until they change the rules in September) and have not had any additional fees for currency conversions or overseas transfers.

I’m just going on this, taken from their website. There are footnotes but I can’t include them in the screenshot due to the 256kb attachment limit, presumably in place for anyone accessing the forum from the 1990’s

https://www.smbctb.co.jp/en/service/fees/exchange.html

Deep Blue wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 9:42 am I’m just going on this, taken from their website. There are footnotes but I can’t include them in the screenshot due to the 256kb attachment limit, presumably in place for anyone accessing the forum from the 1990’s

https://www.smbctb.co.jp/en/service/fees/exchange.html

I am just looking at my Prestia app right now and on the opening forex screen it shows:

USD Buy =137.18 Mid Rate = 136.14. Sell = 135.10

When I initiate the transaction for 1,000,000 yen the screen says "136.73 JPY for 1 USD" and lists 7,313.69 USD which works out to that amount

The way I read the Prestia terms is you’ll get the quoted rate and then they’ll deduct a fee too, according to the tariff on the website.

So you get hurt a bit in the spread and a bit more in terms of their fee.

Do you read it differently?

I didn't even read it. Before I do a transfer I look online at the current exchange rate (not on the Prestia site) and if the rate offered when I start the Prestia transaction is "reasonable" (with 1 yen) I take it. I've had bad experiences with the spread and the rate with some institutions (Nomura) here but not noticed any unreasonable mark-up from Prestia. (I am wondering if I should get a Wise account with the upcoming change but I need something that will transfer more money at one time than I am hearing is possible on Wise.)

So when you buy USD with JPY, you don't get any extra charges deducted from your account? Prestia simply makes money from the spread vs mid-rate and all that stuff on their website about a 0.3, 0.5 or 1 yen per USD charge is inaccurate?

I have never seen any additional charge to my account from a currency exchange transaction.That's why I went back to check the math on the exchange rate (earlier post) to make sure it wasn't hidden there.

Deep Blue wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 2:32 pm So when you buy USD with JPY, you don't get any extra charges deducted from your account? Prestia simply makes money from the spread vs mid-rate and all that stuff on their website about a 0.3, 0.5 or 1 yen per USD charge is inaccurate?

The spread changes, depending on the transaction and the currency.

I have not confirmed whether this information is still correct in light of the latest announcements, but it was correct the last time I looked.

Until recently the spreads were as follows (Yen Each Way):

CNY, HKD, ZAR 0.4 of a Yen
DKK, MXN, NOK, SEK 0.3 of a Yen
THB 0.8 of a Yen
All Others 1.00 Yen.

It now seems that for All Others the Spread is no longer symetrical;
For Regular Account Status => TTS = MID + 1 Yen, TTB = MID - 1 Yen
For Gold Account Status => TTS = MID + 1 Yen, TTB = MID - 0.5 Yen
For Gold Premium Status => TTS = MID + 1 Yen, TTB = MID - 0.3 Yen


The Spread is wider for Cash Transactions, and only available in a couple of currencies.

The Exchange Rate with the spread is calculated at the time you enter the transaction online or request a transaction over the phone; Buy or Sell Order.

If you have a regular Tsumitate Foreign Exchange Purchase set up, there is NO spread. You buy the foreign currency at the MID Price at the time of the transaction.

If you switch currencies, you would have had to pay the Spread from Currency A to Yen (TTB) (MID - Spread) and then from Yen to Currency B (TTS) (MID + Spread), but with Prestia Gold, over the phone, they would do one transaction at the MID so you would only pay one Spread instead of two...

There are no other transaction fees, except:

If you have the Global Pass Card, and you withdraw money or make transactions abroad...
If you already have the Foreign Currency in your Multi-Money Account, they just withdraw the funds in that currency with no fees.
If you do not already have the Foreign Currency in your Multi-Money Account, they convert from Yen to that currency at the time of the transaction, for which there is a fee equivalent to that if you had used a Yen denominated Credit Card overseas. i.e. The Spread is wider than

TokyoWart wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 1:47 pm

Deep Blue wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 9:42 am I’m just going on this, taken from their website. There are footnotes but I can’t include them in the screenshot due to the 256kb attachment limit, presumably in place for anyone accessing the forum from the 1990’s

https://www.smbctb.co.jp/en/service/fees/exchange.html

I am just looking at my Prestia app right now and on the opening forex screen it shows:

USD Buy =137.18 Mid Rate = 136.14. Sell = 135.10

When I initiate the transaction for 1,000,000 yen the screen says "136.73 JPY for 1 USD" and lists 7,313.69 USD which works out to that amount

The Front Page takes the rates from Refinative which show a slightly wider spread (in the case above Y1.4 each way), but these are not the actual transaction rates. The Spreads for the Actual Transaction are as I quoted above:

CNY, HKD, ZAR 0.4 of a Yen
DKK, MXN, NOK, SEK 0.3 of a Yen
THB 0.8 of a Yen
All Others 1.00 Yen.

It now seems that for All Others the Spread is no longer symetrical;
For Regular Account Status => TTS = MID + 1 Yen, TTB = MID - 1 Yen
For Gold Account Status => TTS = MID + 1 Yen, TTB = MID - 0.5 Yen
For Gold Premium Status => TTS = MID + 1 Yen, TTB = MID - 0.3 Yen

In case you haven't noticed yet Prestia changed their requirements for status upgrade as of April 2023

https://www.smbctb.co.jp/en/service/welcome/status.html

The new requirements will raise the bar on getting gold status whereas you can have those with SBI Shinsei for less.

If you plan on doing Forex it seems as well even with the discounts offered with gold status by Prestia that SBI Shinsei is cheaper on the exchange rate.

On the other hand, if you have important use of domestic or overseas transfer Prestia will provide waived fees whereas SBI Shinsei will offer waives fee only upon a certain amount of transfers (up to 10 Domestic transfers and 1 overseas transfer per months).

Has anyone tried Prestia brokerage account? I've heard positive feedback about SBI one and in the process of getting one.