RetireJapan

Hi all,

A technical question, but possibly important later. Eventually got a Rakuten Securities account open, which I intend to use for NISA investments. Unfortunately, the online application only allowed a maximum of 4 characters for each of first and last names (the furigana was no problem). Meaning my account is now usable, but not perfectly matched to any of my ID. I spoke to an operator on the phone, but they seemed to not be able to do anything about it.

Before I start using it, I am wondering if any other 'foreigners' here encountered a similar name issue. I don't want to start putting money in it if there's a risk that family would not be able to access that money if anything happened to me or if it complicates tax benefits later.

Any thoughts/experience?

Many thanks,

Gary.

Hi Gary

The biggest issue tends to be connecting bank accounts, so if you have already done that it should be okay. You'll have to give them your My Number information, which along with your address should be enough to link the account to you, regardless of the name entered in the field.

Anyone else?

Same experience. Having a 楽天銀行 about makes money transfers easier since your accounts are automatically linked and the Rakuten Bank name field does not have the same limitation.

Thanks everyone. This is helpful. Sounds like I will be OK to just go ahead and start using it.

They called me when I registered a while ago, confirming my name. I linked my account to Rakuten Bank and there wasn't much problem there. iDeCo on the other hand...

Similar to the OP, I am having problems getting my NISA up and running. Rakuten won't take more than 4 characters which seems ridiculous and SBI just won't accept the - that appears in my last name. It is in full-width katakana as it should be and has been checked multiple times yet every time it says there is a mistake. Also my name in full-width roman characters is more than seventeen letters which apparently isn't on either! It is so frustrating that they can make a simple registration so needlessly complicated! The seventeen letters can be avoided by just cutting out my middle name and hoping the fact that my name doesn't exactly match my Mynumber and bank account is not a problem, but what, if anything, can be done about the - problem?

An additional question - once you do get the online application all done, how long does it take before you can start buying. Do you need to do some additional paperwork or do you just get notified when you are good to go?