international transfers

[eyeswideshut]

The excessive fees and headaches with transferring money in and out of Japan is a real bugbear of mine. I also have accounts in Singapore and Canada and wire transfers of any size between them are free, fast and completely without hassle. Japanese banks offer just awful service here which is weird when they claim to want to be an international financial hub. Transferwise is by far the best service I have used but only up to 1 million Yen.

[captainspoke]

...
I haven't done a transfer for a couple years, but before simply wiring direct from my shinsei US$ acct to my broker in the US was relatively easy (a phone call), fast (appearing in my acct there next business day), and free (shinsei platinum customer). And there didn't seem to be the limit that OP mentions (I sent well over US$10k a number of times).
...

Again, it's been a while, so if shinsei has gone completely over to GoRemit, then something got fixed that wasn't broken.

International transfers were free, took a day, done via a phone call, no hidden fees or surprises, you could accumulate your f/x in a subaccount ahead of time (not at the mercy of the daily rate), no per transfer or per year limit (none that I hit). Downsides were that you had to listen to the spiel/questions about iran/dprk each time, and that it couldn't be done online.

[Telebroker]

I see two options:
1) Making more or less expensive SWIFT transfers. Part of that process is that the funds will flow through intermediaries which aren't predetermined and charge varying fees. Suggest to read Wikipedia if you want to get into details, but that won't cut fees either. As most Japanese banks charge astronomic amounts for SWIFT transfers, Prestia with Gold status is the only free way I am aware of. Watch the conversion rate in any event.

2) You are better off using payment services such as (Transfer)Wise, WorldRemit and most recent Revolut. Revolut has the best "cospa" with now fees and a market conversion rate. However read their fine print and be aware of their JPY 750,000 limit/m. If you send funds with them, they originate from your name, so that should also work for brokerage accounts.

[3] If your destination is a broker account, see other post on "How to fund IBKR accounts"; That will be similar if not identical for other overseas brokers.

[mighty58]

Again, it's been a while, so if shinsei has gone completely over to GoRemit, then something got fixed that wasn't broken.

International transfers were free, took a day, done via a phone call, no hidden fees or surprises, you could accumulate your f/x in a subaccount ahead of time (not at the mercy of the daily rate), no per transfer or per year limit (none that I hit). Downsides were that you had to listen to the spiel/questions about iran/dprk each time, and that it couldn't be done online.

Shinsei's international transfers are separate to GoRemit. GoRemit came about after Shinsei took over the old Lloyd's overseas remittance service (GoLloyds), hence the name. I also used the Shinsei remittance occasionally as a platinum customer and had the exact same experience you describe, although I too haven't used them recently.

I also have accounts in Singapore and Canada and wire transfers of any size between them are free, fast and completely without hassle. ...
Transferwise is by far the best service I have used

Curious if you have used TransferWise to send funds from Canada to Japan? Wise Canada only accepts EFTs (no wire transfers, Interact, etc.) and my bank (credit union) doesn't' seem to offer EFTs, at least not for individuals. I've successfully sent money from Japan to Canada with Wise, but can't seem to go the other way.

[eyeswideshut]

@mighty58 - I wasn't aware of the restrictions to EFTs from WISE Canada. That seems super annoying. I would probably just to a SWIFT transfer in that case and eat the cost.

That said, with the uptake in e-payments and credit card use in Japan, it is getting easier and easier to access overseas funds here so I rarely need to transfer large amounts from overseas into Japan.

[mighty58]

@eyeswideshut - Thanks. Yeah, they're annoying to the point where they don't accept anything but EFTs, not even SWIFT transfers. Hopefully a rollout problem that will be solved with the passage of time, but a bit frustrating nonetheless. In the meantime, taking my Canadian ATM card to the local 711 still works in a pinch

[Hedgehog]

I've used TransferWise for years to send money back to the UK (where I have a long-standing account with a major high street bank). I'm now looking to transfer money the other way (from that same account to my Prestia account), but can't work out if I can use Wise to effect this. Am I missing something blindingly obvious?

[RetireJapan]

I've used TransferWise for years to send money back to the UK (where I have a long-standing account with a major high street bank). I'm now looking to transfer money the other way (from that same account to my Prestia account), but can't work out if I can use Wise to effect this. Am I missing something blindingly obvious?

This is very easy/quick. Set up your virtual UK bank account with Wise. You'll get an account number and sort code. Transfer money from your UK bank to Wise (takes seconds from NatWest). Within Wise, change the pounds to yen. You can then send the money to your Japanese bank account (took about a minute to Shinsei).

[Hedgehog]

I've used TransferWise for years to send money back to the UK (where I have a long-standing account with a major high street bank). I'm now looking to transfer money the other way (from that same account to my Prestia account), but can't work out if I can use Wise to effect this. Am I missing something blindingly obvious?

This is very easy/quick. Set up your virtual UK bank account with Wise. You'll get an account number and sort code. Transfer money from your UK bank to Wise (takes seconds from NatWest). Within Wise, change the pounds to yen. You can then send the money to your Japanese bank account (took about a minute to Shinsei).

Many thanks for your speedy reply! I'll get on the case today.

[Hedgehog]

I've used TransferWise for years to send money back to the UK (where I have a long-standing account with a major high street bank). I'm now looking to transfer money the other way (from that same account to my Prestia account), but can't work out if I can use Wise to effect this. Am I missing something blindingly obvious?

This is very easy/quick. Set up your virtual UK bank account with Wise. You'll get an account number and sort code. Transfer money from your UK bank to Wise (takes seconds from NatWest). Within Wise, change the pounds to yen. You can then send the money to your Japanese bank account (took about a minute to Shinsei).

Many thanks for your speedy reply! I'll get on the case today.

OK, that worked a treat. All set up and working now, so thanks again.

One further question I have for anyone who has this kind of Wise account as well as a multi-currency account with a Japanese bank: is it possible to transfer (e.g.) GBP directly from my Wise account to the GBP savings in my PRESTIA MultiMoney Foreign Currency Savings Deposit without having to change them to JPY?