RetireJapan

I want to set up my wise account, but I’m quite confused. If you guys wouldn’t mind helping me out, I’d be really grateful.

So my situation is I’m originally from Canada, but have been living in Japan for the past 15 years. I have a bank account with Sony Bank here, and I have a joint banking account with my parents back home in Canada.

I’d like to set up Wise to be able to transfer between the two accounts. How do I set this up? I’ll be going back to Canada in a few days for a vacation if it helps make things smoother.

There should be no issue setting up a Canadian dollar account with Sony Bank (they do offer one in that currency) and sending a transfer direct to that from your Canadian bank, or vice-versa. Apologies if there is a reason you don’t want to do that and prefer Wise, but I imagine the direct route would be competitive on cost and simpler.

I think the way it would work is that you would charge Wise with JPY (by sending a furikomi from Sony Bank to Wise), and then make a transfer from Wise to your Canadian account. I don't know anything about how Wise works on the Canadian side, though I have used it successfully to send money to accounts in the UK and US.

Beaglehound wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 1:43 pmI imagine the direct route would be competitive on cost and simpler.

I don't know about Sony Bank, but most international transfers are full of hidden fees and unknown costs. In fact, that was the inspiration for creating Wise in the first place. It replaces the intermediary banks to do two "local" transfers, and will tell you the exact cost, including the exchange rate, before you agree.

adamu wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 1:45 pm I think the way it would work is that you would charge Wise with JPY (by sending a furikomi from Sony Bank to Wise), and then make a transfer from Wise to your Canadian account. I don't know anything about how Wise works on the Canadian side, though I have used it successfully to send money to accounts in the UK and US.

Beaglehound wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 1:43 pmI imagine the direct route would be competitive on cost and simpler.

I don't know about Sony Bank, but most international transfers are full of hidden fees and unknown costs. In fact, that was the inspiration for creating Wise in the first place. It replaces the intermediary banks to do two "local" transfers, and will tell you the exact cost before you agree.

I have a Sony Bank account and one big reason for setting it up was the option to have a GBP sub-account to receive money from my U.K. account. Now this was three years ago and I haven’t actually used it yet, so can’t vouch for it, but at that time the numbers looked good compared to Wise or currency brokers. Definitely worth the OP running the numbers.

Beaglehound wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 1:54 pm Definitely worth the OP running the numbers.

The problem is you can't run the numbers with the traditional banking system, because they don't publish what the intermediary bank fees are. The best you can do is see what arrives at the other end.

Beaglehound wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 1:54 pm I haven’t actually used it yet

Send yourself the same amount of money on the same day from the UK, one via Wise, and one direct, then report back how much you got in yen, and when you got it in each case. I bet Wise is cheaper (but will be happily proven wrong!). Would be interesting to hear which is faster, too.

Wise is fine for smaller amounts, up to about ¥500k, perhaps a little more. Kind of the "retail" end of fund transfers. But even approaching Wise's limit of ¥1M, wire transfers are the better deal.

Most people moving larger amounts will also be eligible for free outgoing international transfers, due to account levels, etc.

I think wire transfers are still better for those larger amounts, but the destination bank can also make a difference. If the transfer is to a large bank (eg, citibank in the US), it'll go direct and there won't be any intermediary bank fees (nor any receiving bank fees). If the destination bank is a small/local one, you might get nicked for a fee from an intermediary bank to get it to them, and then those small banks can also have a fee for incoming wires.

Beaglehound wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 1:43 pm There should be no issue setting up a Canadian dollar account with Sony Bank (they do offer one in that currency) and sending a transfer direct to that from your Canadian bank, or vice-versa. Apologies if there is a reason you don’t want to do that and prefer Wise, but I imagine the direct route would be competitive on cost and simpler.

Ahh, I forgot about that. I’ll look into it. It’s probably going to be my parents sending me money so I want to make things as smooth as possible for them.

JimNasium wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 3:33 am

Beaglehound wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 1:43 pm There should be no issue setting up a Canadian dollar account with Sony Bank (they do offer one in that currency) and sending a transfer direct to that from your Canadian bank, or vice-versa. Apologies if there is a reason you don’t want to do that and prefer Wise, but I imagine the direct route would be competitive on cost and simpler.

Ahh, I forgot about that. I’ll look into it. It’s probably going to be my parents sending me money so I want to make things as smooth as possible for them.

I don't know your situation, but, if your parents are sending money to you, be aware that you may be taxed on the money in Japan as Gifts if they send you gifts of more than Y1.1M in a calendar year, of as income or capital gains if it is from overseas sourced income... You should check with an accountant or the Tax Office...

Tkydon wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 4:09 am

JimNasium wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 3:33 am Ahh, I forgot about that. I’ll look into it. It’s probably going to be my parents sending me money so I want to make things as smooth as possible for them.

I don't know your situation, but, if your parents are sending money to you, be aware that you may be taxed on the money in Japan as Gifts if they send you gifts of more than Y1.1M in a calendar year, of as income or capital gains if it is from overseas sourced income... You should check with an accountant or the Tax Office...

Presumably this would not be a concern if the money were to pay for living expenses?