international transfers

[forgorin]

I have noticed over the years that it is getting harder and more difficult to send money overseas. I bank with shinsei bank and they now have this app 'go remit'. I signed up for it and they gave me a 300,000 yen per month/ 1,200,000 yen per year limit. When I asked them about sending more than 1.2 million yen overseas they told me that I have to provide extra documentation. Like who the beneficiary was and my relation to them. They want passport copies!! They want to have copies of bank statements for 3 to 6 months. Fucking ridiculous.

How do you guys send money overseas? I have a brokerage account overseas that will only accept funds from an account in my name so something like TransferWise is out of the question.

Thoughts?

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

Yes it has a lot more difficult. A lot of this is government regulation over money laundering. Once it is set up on the app it is quite easy, and you do not have to go through the phone service, which was a real pain the rear. I do like the fact that you could keep your own currency in their bank account in Japan. I do not think you can do that with Transfer Wise.

[StockBeard]

I do not have a good answer. I used to use Shinsei, and being platinum member at the time, it used to be great as I could do one free oversea transfer per month. And there were no limits as far as I can tell. This was before they introduced goRemit.

As far as their requirements are concerned for "high value" transfers, how much do you want to push against that? It seems to me everything they're asking for is information they already have for you anyway, no? Beneficiary and relation to them: that's you. Bank statements from 3 to 6 months... well, if it's goRemit and shinsei is your bank, they already have this (I understand it's painful to provide it again, but in terms of privacy, it's not like they're asking for something they couldn't get through other means). The only one I'd be unhappy about would be the passport copy, I'd personally try with my gaijin card first if this was an option...
(Don't get me wrong, I'd be angry too, but it does seem like there is a way through goRemit, if what you describe is the actual situation)

[DragonQuest]

Have you guys considered using cryptocurrencies already?

[captainspoke]

Have you guys considered using cryptocurrencies already?

Uh, okay, I'll bite.

OP says they have "a brokerage account overseas that will only accept funds from an account in my name"...

So tell me, how is crypto going to be at all useful in getting money to that account?

[Tony]

Open an account in your name at a bit coin exchange in the country you want to transfer to, create an account in the country you are transferring from, buy bitcoin, send it to yourself, then sell it for your preferred currency in the other country, then transfer from that account (which is in your name) to the brokerage account?

Never done it myself, but I assume, that's how it works. Possible risks are volatility and loosing out on the spread.

[adamu]

Cryptocurrencies are not the answer to your international transfer problems. Only try it if you don't care about the money. "Volatility" is a huge risk. So is the exchange you choose getting hacked, running off with your money, etc.etc. Just not worth it. Not to mention the same regulation that makes bank transfers difficult also applies to Japanese crypto exchanges, so you still have to provide your ID if you want to buy cryptocurrency with yen.

Basically, I think we have to just deal with the bureaucracy to do international transfers.

From previous threads here, GoRemit and Transferwise do seem to be the best options.

[captainspoke]

Open an account in your name at a bit coin exchange in the country you want to transfer to, create an account in the country you are transferring from, buy bitcoin, send it to yourself, then sell it for your preferred currency in the other country, then transfer from that account (which is in your name) to the brokerage account?

Never done it myself, but I assume, that's how it works. Possible risks are volatility and loosing out on the spread.

Well, the problem (or at least one of them), with the US: it's virtually impossible as an expat/nonresident to set up a domestic bank account there. If OP already had one, they wouldn't be here asking what to do.

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).

Secondarily, buying crypto and then selling it is technically taxable, something that should be reported on your tax return here. Just buying dollars to send is not.

[Stewart]

I had a major investment of mine mature at the start of February and there was a lot of bureaucracy in getting the payment into my Mizuho account in Japan from the UK investment company (now called Utmost but when I started called Generali).

Utmost wanted a lot of paper work which just took time but could be done easily, scanned and sent off. However, Mizuho called me on my mobile at work and would only talk to me between 9am and 5pm on a weekday. They would not call at any other time and deal with me in any way except by phone. They quizzed me about all kinds of details about the account, the company, how I paid for the investment, what the funds were, how long I had the account etc. Of course, as I was at work, I didn't have the information in front of me so I was going from memory and using my terrible Japanese.

The money arrived in my account after two long and stressful phone calls. Thankfully I have my own office. I cannot imagine doing that in a usual open plan Japanese work place.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

I had a major investment of mine mature at the start of February and there was a lot of bureaucracy in getting the payment into my Mizuho account in Japan from the UK investment company (now called Utmost but when I started called Generali).

Utmost wanted a lot of paper work which just took time but could be done easily, scanned and sent off. However, Mizuho called me on my mobile at work and would only talk to me between 9am and 5pm on a weekday. They would not call at any other time and deal with me in any way except by phone. They quizzed me about all kinds of details about the account, the company, how I paid for the investment, what the funds were, how long I had the account etc. Of course, as I was at work, I didn't have the information in front of me so I was going from memory and using my terrible Japanese.

The money arrived in my account after two long and stressful phone calls. Thankfully I have my own office. I cannot imagine doing that in a usual open plan Japanese work place.

I was also with Generalli until last year, I did not wait till it matured and cashed in. I have had experience of transferring large amounts of money to Japan when I brought over my deposit for my house about a decade ago, lots of questions from the Japanese bank, also the tax office were asking questions. This time I had it sent to my British bank account, I could not have asked for a smoother ride went straight in.