A good non-Japanese bank account

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A good non-Japanese bank account - efeilliaid - 2010-02-03

Hi guys,

I'm going to Japan for a few months soon and would like to be able to use a foreign card to withdraw money from ATMs and pay in shops without much fuss.
When I was in Japan last year, I had an Irish debit card with me (the so called "Laser" with a Maestro logo, issued by AIB). It was rather frustrating to find out that it was declined at most shops I went to without cash and only a handful of ATMs accepted that card. I don't have a credit card and don't want to have one.
Would you be able to recommend a foreign bank whose cards (not credit cards like Visa or Mastercard) are widely accepted in Japanese shops/ATMs etc.? I was thinking about HSBC because I think I saw its logo in many places in Japanese cities but I'm not perfectly sure.
Thanks in advance for any hints, especially from people who use cards of other Irish or UK banks.

Efeilliaid

A good non-Japanese bank account - Jarvik7 - 2010-02-03

The answer is: nothing.

You do not pay by debit card in Japan. In fact, debit cards do not really exist here. There are ATM cards, some of which have EDDY or another pay system bundled, but they are still primarily access cards. Normal (as in not large) stores are just starting to offer creditcard payment so you can hardly expect support for foreign debit cards.

In other words, bring cash, use cash. If your foreign debit card has the PLUS logo on it you should be able to use it at any international ATM (any post office or 7-11). Citybank has branches in Japan but they are few in number and I've heard that the services aren't joined to the foreign Citybank.

Don't even bring traveller's cheques, since most stores will not accept them unless they are duty free. Cash is king here.

A good non-Japanese bank account - kerosan41 - 2010-02-03

Sound like you just need a debit card. Get one with a Visa logo and you're set. That way it can take credit charges, but it still deducts from your account. You should be able to withdraw money from most ATMs, including at all post offices with that.

Keep in mind that Japan is still largely a cash based society though. Some places won't take plastic no matter where its from. And don't even bother with a check. Cash is pretty much your best bet.

A good non-Japanese bank account - efeilliaid - 2010-02-03

Guys, you're fast!
Thanks a lot to you both, I think I got what I need to know now. I also used a Polish debit card with a "Visa" logo on it and it worked at more ATMs. I hated the exchange rate with my Polish bank, but it seems that might be the best non-cash option for now Smile

Thanks again!

A good non-Japanese bank account - bebio - 2010-02-03

While I do have a normal JP Bank debit card, I also have my old foreign bank account, for which I have my old Portuguese debit card (Visa Maestro) and a credit card (Mastercard). The debit card has been working at ATMs at most 7'Eleven stores (of course, within the normal daily operation time slot...try to use any of them on a national holiday after 3pm and you're screwed). Problem is, the minimum withdraw from any of these 2 cards is 10000 yen. Also, the processing charge is much higher for the credit card than the debit card, but most of the time I am forced to use the credit card, because there's practically no place that accepts debit cards of any kind whatsoever.

Make sure that you always withdraw extra spare cash within normal operation hours, which can change a lot depending on the bank or convenience store, the day of the week, or if it is a holiday. I have been in a situation where it was nightfall, and I had to borrow money from a friend to go back home, because I could not find a single ATM in Shibuya that worked with any of my 3 cards. It's totally not cool knowing that you have cash in 2 bank accounts, and despite going to more than 10 different ATMs, nothing seems to work.

So, carefully follow the advice of the above posters.

A good non-Japanese bank account - Babyrat - 2010-02-03

Im from the UK so this may help a bit, I got a Visa debt card from HSBC the "visa" part is extreamly important that decides if your card works or not. The matter of finding a machine that will take it was a bit hard in my case, I ended up going many places (mostly konbini's) I think I found out that the lawesons konbini machines accept it but not many other places. BUT this could be because I was in rural areas so it could be simple as hell if you are going to stay in a big city.

*edit* i think I found that post offices work well with visa debt card too.

*edit agian* haha just re read your post and saw that you are with hsbc, so yeah just get a visa debt card and it should be ok as i manged to live there 3 months off of it.

If you want a visa debt card and your with HSBC just go to your local branch and tell them you are going abroad for a little while and request a visa debt card, took me about 8 days to get it through post.

A good non-Japanese bank account - amagiri - 2010-02-03

I could use my (Belgian) debit card at Citybank to withdraw cash.
For Mastercard/Visa I would recommend the Postal Office machines.

A good non-Japanese bank account - vix86 - 2010-02-03

amagiri Wrote:I could use my (Belgian) debit card at Citybank to withdraw cash.
For Mastercard/Visa I would recommend the Postal Office machines.

This.

I'm studying abroad right now and use the JP Post ATMs to move money from my Wachovia account to my UFJ bank account. The JP Post ATMs don't charge me a usage fee so the only fee I have to deal with is the Intl' fee that my Wachovia charges me for moving money, which is about 5% of what ever I withdraw. I don't think there are any real limits at the JP Post machines; just whatever your bank account has set. For me its about 500USD but due to conversion rates and such I can only ever move about 45,000yen in one day.

Note that the JP Post machines won't be able to give you a balance on your account at the machine though. The 7Eleven machines can however, but I think they'll give it to you in Yen and not in your home currency.

A good non-Japanese bank account - activeaero - 2010-02-03

A Charles Schwab high yield checking account has NO International money exchange fees and reimburses all ATM fees even on non-system ATM's. That means you get ALL of your money at the exact market rate. Even better is that if you are approved for a "Platinum" version of the card the daily withdrawal limit is around $2,000 USD.

I put this in bold because essentially every foreigner in Japan should have this card as there is literally no better way to receive money.

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking

The only catch, if you can even call it that, is that you have to sign up for their free brokerage account which you do NOT have to use or even put money into.

A good non-Japanese bank account - kainzero - 2010-02-03

activeaero Wrote:A Charles Schwab high yield checking account has NO International money exchange fees and reimburses all ATM fees even on non-system ATM's. That means you get ALL of your money at the exact market rate. Even better is that if you are approved for a "Platinum" version of the card the daily withdrawal limit is around $2,000 USD.

I put this in bold because essentially every foreigner in Japan should have this card as there is literally no better way to receive money.

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking

The only catch, if you can even call it that, is that you have to sign up for their free brokerage account which you do NOT have to use or even put money into.

I second this.

I used the Schwab Savings account to access my money on vacation to Japan and it was awesome. If I needed cash I could just go to any convenience store and withdraw on Visa's rate. I don't think the 7-Eleven's charged fees either, and Schwab doesn't charge a fee.

I only used my Savings account because I lost my Checking ATM card a long time ago, and even though I canceled it I never bothered to get another one since I hardly used that account for Checking purposes anyway.

The only thing is, if you need to access their online banking, make sure you tell them before you leave. I forgot, so when I tried to access it in Japan they locked me out. =)

A good non-Japanese bank account - pm215 - 2010-02-03

activeaero Wrote:I put this in bold because essentially every foreigner in Japan should have this card

I'm thinking that possibly you may mean "every American" :-)

For UK banks the usual recommendation is Nationwide (who used to charge nothing, and I think now just pass on the fee Visa charge them). But just about any UK Maestro (used to be Switch) or VISA debit card should work in the post office ATMs, I think -- the question is merely how much the bank will be charging in fees (either explicit or sneakily hidden in a lousy exchange rate). (Guardian article comparing banks here).

Like Jarvik7 says, just withdraw and use cash. The Japanese banking system is way behind Europe (watch out for ATMs with restricted opening hours, for example!) and "takes VISA" in shops tends to mean "takes Japanese VISA", not "takes any VISA card". Much simpler to withdraw cash in larger amounts (especially if you're hit with per-ATM-transaction fees) and use that.

A good non-Japanese bank account - zazen666 - 2010-02-03

Hey, That Charles Schwab Bank sounds pretty amazing. wish I had had that many years ago.

Is the reverse true? I have a few accounts with japanese banks and would love to be able to send money home, or at least withdrawl money while vacation home in the states, with out all the fees.

A good non-Japanese bank account - vix86 - 2010-02-03

pm215 Wrote:Much simpler to withdraw cash in larger amounts (especially if you're hit with per-ATM-transaction fees) and use that.

That and it just sort of makes more sense if you are here for the long haul. At some of places where you would spend big, like Yodobashi Camera, they have a point system and you get 10% in points on most purchases if you buy in cash and only 8% if you use a credit card.

A good non-Japanese bank account - kainzero - 2010-02-04

zazen666 Wrote:Is the reverse true? I have a few accounts with japanese banks and would love to be able to send money home, or at least withdrawl money while vacation home in the states, with out all the fees.

The only bank I know in both countries is Citibank.

All the banks here are jerks and will assess fees for using their ATM if it's not their bank and they'll hit you with a currency fee as well.

A good non-Japanese bank account - LaLoche - 2010-02-04

Any advice from Canadians in Japan for a Canadian visiting later this year? (i.e. me)

A good non-Japanese bank account - mafried - 2010-02-05

I second the Schwab recommendation. I have a First Republic Bank ATM Rebate Checking account, which is basically the same thing (no fees whatsoever, and even reimburse other bank fees) except it's a local regional bank. Every time I used the debit/ATM card (in Japan and elsewhere) the exchange rate was about 1-2% better than the market rate, and I never, ever got hit with a fee in Japan that wasn't refunded automatically.

If anyone knows a JPY bank that provides similar service, I would love to know.

A good non-Japanese bank account - amagiri - 2010-02-05

Maybe good to know for some people.

When you're using your MC/Visa for withdrawing cash, make sure that you know what they charge you for the transaction. It is usually cheaper to withdraw more money once (i.e. you'll only be charged for one transaction) than withdraw small amounts multiple times (as they will charge you for every transaction).