Hi, I just landed in Japan on a student visa and moved in a new condo. My partner is Japanese but I’d rather be fully autonomous to subscribe to a mobile plan and other services requiring a domestic bank account, so I’d like to open one.
Key considerations:
* I don’t need a fancy card. (Already have Revolut and other higher-end cards.)
* I want to be eligible to the best mobile/internet plans, which seem to require a Japanese payment card
* Will manually feed this account with JPY from Revolut to have enough to pay for monthly subscriptions.
* No regular salary deposits as I’m on a student visa…
* …but I have substantial savings abroad, and formal authorization from Immigration to continue my freelance activity remotely concurrently to my studies.
* No short or medium-term plans to make it my main bank.
* I’m looking for minimum bank fees and deposit requirements.
From previous threads, I’ve read that **JP Post**, **Shinsei** and **SMBC** are the best foreigner-friendly options for foreign students without the 6 months requirement.
But some of those threads are locked or getting old, so if someone recently went through the same path, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this matter.
5 comments
Pretty much nothing changes, so those old information still relevant now.
For phone number in JP post, personally I just create skype JP number and put it there. Since don’t really like relying on others.
Then change it after I got my actual number.
Alternatively there’s simcard provider like jpsmart that only requires residence card to signup. But lacks benefit which is sucks.
Fine to use for the first month in Japan though, since It’s non contract.
I was also a student freelancing on the side and I could only do JP Post in the first 6 months I was in Japan as the banks wouldn’t accept my 個人事業 as employment. It did however work for applying for an SMBC NL credit card after 8 months of being in Japan.
After 6 months to Sony Bank or SMBC asap and use their apps to open a better account for long term use. SMBC is a traditional Japanese big bank with lots of services, the Olive account is combined debit/credit in one and is free. Sony is a netbank that is highly compatible with other services and offers great forex and multi currency features compared to others.
For some phone companies foreign credit cards work (IIJMio, UQ) but otherwise I do believe everyone takes direct debit, so if you only have a JP Post cash card as a Japanese card it would be fine.
I’ve found if you just say you “have a part-time job” JP Bank doesn’t even verify to see what you’re saying is true. It’s a hack to get a full bank account here day 1.
I can vouch for SMBC Prestia. You can open an account online, they offer full English support, online banking, and the bank card you get is also a prepaid credit card you can use for online shopping, Netflix etc. They also offer a “western standard” customer service.
When I sent them a document to register my new Zairyu card, I forgot if I registered my signature or Hanko so I just put my signature. They sent me a reply that was basically “You signed the document but we only have your Hanko registered. It’s ok though, we have your new Zairyu Card and for good measure, we also registered your Hanko so don’t worry”.
Japan Post, on the other hand, once sent me back an application form because I capitalized every letter in the name of my building while on my Zairyu card, only the first letter is capitalized. A mistake that clearly warrants delaying me getting my bank account by another two weeks… Their “online banking” is also a mild joke. Stay away from Japan Post if you can.
JP bank is quite basic but straightforward and will let almost any resident open an account with minimal fuss, paperwork and fees. Plus post offices are everywhere.
I don’t know if you need a Japanese payment card for the best mobile and internet plans. When I signed up for each of them, I could get all the advertised deals and rates with my foreign credit card, they didn’t care or ask about any bank accounts in Japan. But YMMV depending on the specific company.