RetireJapan

Hi everyone!

This is my first post here. I have been living in Japan for 3 years now and have known about this site for around 2 or so. I've had many questions in the past but lurking in the forums solved them so I didn't had to make an account

However today I finally received my letter from SBI (I had applied for an account to start tsumitate NISA back in January, 3 months of anxiety since there was no news other than the one time where my proof of identity documents were rejected as 1 was in katakana and couldn't be accepted as my other documents were all in romanji)

Halfway through setting up my account for the initial time, I got a warning that if the account does not match with my bank, I can still deposit money but withdrawing would not be allowed.

Just to clarify, I'm Asian and I have 2 first names and a middle name so it's like First name, middle name, last name, first name and generally I get around with just the first first name and last name. However my bank uses first, middle and last name whereas SBI only had my first and last name.

I'm worried that if I just went ahead, sure, I will be able to deposit money and buy ETFs but what happens when I try to withdraw my money in say, 30 years? I will be 30 this year so it's just an estimate.

Also, I say withdrawing my money, but the proper term would probably be more like selling whatever I'm buying (looking as S&P 500 and eMaxis オール・カントリー ETF) for now.

I know some people here also have middle name issues so I was wondering if you had called/emailed them to change it or just go ahead and submit the documents when you actually want to withdraw the money.

P.S. I created this account around half an hour ago and within 10 minutes I got my approval. I would like to give my thanks to the fast working admin.

Hello and welcome from another newbie!

Have you considered opening a SBI NeoBank account? This is a normal Japanese bank account that you can link to your SBI Securities account and supposedly can be used to easily transfer money back-and-forth between the two. I'm in the process of applying for one myself (see thread: Opening an SBI NISA Account in 2020 for more details). The first step is to click on the "銀行" button in the top right corner. If you're lucky it can all be done digitally. If not, join the club!

Hi Teflon!

Thank you for the reply.

I had been checking out that thread which made me hesitate to create an account initially.

I think when I was creating my SBI account, I had also opted to open a bank account but I didn't hear anything from them.

I thought that it would be the SBI Neobank account but maybe I was mistaken.

Thank you for the tip, I will go check it out now.

getsugasin wrote: ↑Sat Apr 03, 2021 5:02 am I know some people here also have middle name issues so I was wondering if you had called/emailed them to change it or just go ahead and submit the documents when you actually want to withdraw the money.

Hi, my names don't match between SBI Securities and the bank I use with it.
I would also recommend Sumishin SBI Neobank. In fact, I opened that in the hope that an SBI bank account might get around SBI Securities' infuriating name limitations.
They wouldn't link because of the name issue, so I phoned up SBI Securities and they "manually" connected the two accounts.
Because of the name difference, I cannot use the instant 入金 function on SBI Securities.
Instead, I have to log in into SBI Neobank and deposit money by using the furikae button to move funds within that bank account. I transfer the money I need from my daihyo account to my hybrid account. Any funds in that hybrid account show up on the SBI Securities site.

The text below appeared on the SBI Securities site when I tried to adjust the 振込先金融機関口座 account set for outward transfers.
When you want to take money out, I think you just do the reverse of the above, i.e. go to SBI Neobank and transfer money from your hybrid account to daihyou account, and withdraw money from that via cashcard - presumably you can transfer to another bank too, but they don't mention that


SBI証券での入出金は住信SBIネット銀行の「SBIハイブリッド預金」が便利です。

「預り金自動スィープサービス」をご利用のお客さまは、住信SBIネット銀行のSBIハイブリッド預金から代表口座の円普通預金へ振替えを行うだけで、住信SBIネット銀行のキャッシュカードにてご資金の出金が可能となります。


https://m.sbisec.co.jp/refiw011

Hi ToushiTime,

Thank you for your reply!

Sorry for my late replies, I don't seem to be getting notifications for this thread so I manually check everyday. There's probably a setting for it somewhere but I will have to go look for it.

Actually I'm pretty sure I did apply for an online bank account while applying for my SBI account. Is it possible that they will get back to me again or perhaps they have left it out?

Since my tsumitate NISA account is still under 請求済 status and I don't seem to be able to do anything to it.

I tried applying for a NeoBank account as Teflon previously mentioned but I think that they don't allow online application for foreigners. :'(

It would be a hassle to have to reapply for the NeoBank account and get the 住民票の写し again (well not so much as the time and distance, since I have one within walkable distance but more of the cost of 300 yen) so I guess I will until my tsumitate NISA account is approved before proceeding.

Hi Getsugasin,

Yes, I had issues with missing notifications too. Check you have all the email notifications checked in your User Control Panel settings. Also, when you write a reply to someone, check the box "notify when a reply is posted" under the editing panel that opens up for you to type in. That might help.

I can’t answer about your case specifically, because I applied for Sumishin SBI Netbank account after I had set up the SBI Securities account.

SBI Securities made me apply by post but Sumishin SBI Netbank accepted my online application. The bank didn’t have the daft name limitations that SBI Securities has. I uploaded my ID via the bank app and didn’t have to send any paperwork.

It sounds as though you don’t have a copy of your SBI Securities application to check if you applied for the bank as well?

If so, why not phone up SBI Securities and/or Sumishin SBI Netbank and give them your details and ask if they have a record of you applying for the bank?

If that doesn’t work, or if you don’t want to wait, another option could be to go ahead and try to apply online at the Sumishin SBI Netbank website anyway. You will know immediately if there are any issues with your name and with it matching the ID.

Hi ToushiTime,

Thank you for the suggestion. I've checked the checkbox so fingers crossed that I will get a notification this time.

For me I really dislike speaking to people on the phone since you can't see their expression. So if possible I rather use email (which also has google translate capabilities)

At least when I buying stuff in a store, the clerk will either give me an expression of pity or impatience.

I think for the Netbank there was this question
居住地国は日本のみ
日本以外の外国にも居住国があります
And I had selected the bottom one. And in doing so they said that I couldn't apply online.

I think that question is for filtering out foreigners, I could probably select the first option but in doing so they might find out when submitting my other info, which I'm not sure since I haven't gotten that far yet.

getsugasin wrote: ↑Mon Apr 05, 2021 11:03 pm I think for the Netbank there was thisy question
居住地国は日本のみ
日本以外の外国にも居住国があります

This is asking about your tax residence. Most people should select the first option: tax residence in Japan only.

Ah! Is that so? Thank you for clarifying!

Now I feel stupid. :'( Luckily I copied that text here if not I wouldn't be able to proceed.

I will apply for an account choosing the first option then. Thanks again!

Quick update, along with new questions...

My tsumitate NISA is seems to be going through review in the tax office or whatever the following text means.
これより、お客さまのつみたてNISA口座開設を税務署へ申請いたします。

In the meantime it does seem like I can put funds in but is that recommended? Or should I just wait for the all clear signal?

Also on the 住信SBIネット銀行button, I just noticed that it says ログイン. But I haven't received any login info. Does that mean I get to pick any password or am I supposed to wait for them to send me something? Because when I clicked on that button there were a lot of text boxes to fill in, ログインパスワード, 取引パスワード just to name a few.

One last thing, it seems like direct 振り込むfrom your personal bank (I'm using SMBC) is possible but there might be additional charges. Has anyone tried doing it? Or is the best way still via the NeoBank.