Hi there! I have been using a Sony bank account for quite some time, although I am not the happiest I guess it is okay for daily use. I am supposed to receive a remittance from overseas but the process in Sony bank is a pain. Do you have any recommendations on what bank to use that doesn’t need an intermediary?
Thanks in advance!
7 comments
I’d use wise to transfer money instead of your bank.
The use of intermediary banks depends on the relationship (or lack of relationship) between the sending bank and receiving bank. If an intermediary bank is being used, and charging fees, all you can do is try a different sending bank or a different receiving bank. If one or other of the banks is small then they may not have many direct relationships.
Depending on how much money is involved and where the money is being sent from, it may be cheaper to use WISE. You’d need to give some more details to be able to compare the options.
I use [SBI Shinsei](https://www.sbishinseibank.co.jp/english/service/remittance/), which does not specify needing to use an intermediary bank for incoming transfers. However, because they use the same account number for all balances, it is important to include “DO NOT CONVERT” in the incoming remittance message – the incoming funds may be converted and deposited into your JPY balance if you do not.
The other advantages of Shinsei is, [their exchange rate](https://sre.shinseibank.com/InterestRateC/rate_list_fx_en.aspx) is pretty reasonable, and [incoming wire transfers](https://www.sbishinseibank.co.jp/english/service/remittance/) gives you a JPY2,000 yen cashback (if you’re [silver stage, or above](https://www.sbishinseibank.co.jp/english/powerflex/relationship/); which is quite easy to achieve), which pretty much offsets their [receiving fee](https://www.sbishinseibank.co.jp/english/service/remittance/).
I’ve had no issue with Sony transferring a large sum in GBP. They do specify an intermediary but after receiving my receipt said no intermediary was used. I received the full amount I sent – no charges other than the SWIFT charge from the sending bank.
have been receiving remittances in dollar through Sony bank here and still keeping it in their USD account, smooth as a baby butt without any hiccups. if you want a direct remittance without going through any intermediate bank you can try SMBC
Prestia (SMBC Trust Bank) used to be Citibank and is very foreigner friendly
I got fed up and got Remitly since I fell through a glitch on the Wise verification process and my overseas bank doesn’t handle intl transfers directly. Acct was set up and the transaction was started in less than 10 minutes. Although I’m not sure how secure Remitly is, the process was much quicker than Wise and they had an option where I could pick up from a domestic wire transfer center if I wanted.