# International Bank



## Hockeysnowboard

Anyone know of a good international bank that exists both in the US and Japan which offers bill pay, multi-currency accounts, and has ATMs in the Osaka / Kobe area, which also doesn't require a huge minimum balance? Thanks!


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## larabell

That's a pretty tall order. I assume you're looking to combine all your banking, both here and at home, in a single account. I'd be surprised if that's possible and, in any case, may not be desirable.

Citibank exists both here and in the US. They offer a multi-money account (which I suspect you already know, since that's the exact term they use). They also have a number of ATMs around Tokyo and probably have at least a few in the Kansai area -- it's simple enough to check their website to see how many and where they are. Another advantage is that you can do most of your banking in English. However, you cannot open a single account that can be accessed from the US and Japan (except to the extent that ATMs provide access to foreign accounts). Citibank in Japan and in the US are separate banks. You can, however, open an account here and a separate account in the US and transfer money from Japan to the US via the CB Japan website. Moving money in the opposite direction is more of a hassle but CB Japan will accept personal checks (no other bank in Japan will easily, as far as I know so if you anticipate receiving checks from home, you'll probably want an account at CB Japan anyway). Of course, all this comes at a price but unless you're shuffling money around on a daily or weekly basis, it's not too costly (IMHO).

The problem is that you'll probably want to have things like rent and utilities paid automatically from whatever account you use here and, for that, Citibank isn't quite as convenient. Depending on the payee, you may or may not be able to set-up the automatic payments you need. In addition, most non-Japanese banks like Citibank are fairly sparse in their ATM coverage and you won't be able to get cash from your local convenience store in a pinch (that's important since a number of banks here closed their ATM system right after the Tohoku quake).

For those reasons, you're probably going to want to set up a local account in yen for local transactions. I don't know which banks have a strong presence in Kansai but up here in Tokyo I like SMBC. You'll need some Japanese ability to navigate their web banking site but it seems to be the most electronic-friendly of all the Japanese banks. My recommendation, assuming you're paid in yen in Japan, is to have your salary deposited to a yen account at a Japanese bank. Then, transfer money to CB Japan as needed and, from there, to your CB account in the US.

I'd be curious if anyone has found a better scheme.


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## Singapore Saint

Just a note on ATM's, we are with Citibank and use 7/11's ATM's all of the time, and depending on the type of account you have, the charges are refunded.


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## larabell

Singapore Saint said:


> Just a note on ATM's, we are with Citibank and use 7/11's ATM's all of the time, and depending on the type of account you have, the charges are refunded.


I assume you're talking about Citibank Japan? I'll have to give that a try.


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## Singapore Saint

Yes, Citibank Japan. You're right on the utility bills, we can't set up payment for those (why is that??!), but paying them at 7/11 is ok, even though it hurts to hand over so much in one go!


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## larabell

Singapore Saint said:


> You're right on the utility bills, we can't set up payment for those (why is that??!)


My guess is that there's something in the banking laws designed to protect the Japanese banks. There are other limitations, too. When my oldest was born, we went to Citibank to start an account in his name. No dice -- Citibank has a minimum age limit for account holders (Japanese banks do not). I then asked if I could just open a second account under my name. No -- Citibank limits accounts to one per person (at a Japanese bank you can have dozens of accounts under your own name). The bottom line is that Citibank is not a full-fledged bank in Japan -- it's a limited foreign banking operation with senseless restrictions regarding what they can and cannot do.

Also, if you're a US citizen, it's worth pointing out that Citibank Japan reports interest (and, presumably, your account balance) to the US Government. If that's the only account you have, the reporting might be a good thing because (AFAIK) you're still exempt from the annual FBAR reporting requirements no matter how much money you have in there. But if CBJ reports the account, you can bet they'll comply with any IRS requests pertaining to the money *in* the account.

It might not be a bad idea to have a Japanese bank account as a backup. With the recent trouble CBJ has had with the regulators over their sloppy reporting, it may be only a matter of time before the Japanese Government shuts them down completely.


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## Singapore Saint

_"With the recent trouble CBJ has had with the regulators over their sloppy reporting, it may be only a matter of time before the Japanese Government shuts them down completely."_

I wonder if that's the Govt's aim.. HSBC pulled out earlier this year, if Citibank went too, that's all of the foreign retail / high street banks gone isn't it?


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## larabell

Singapore Saint said:


> ... if Citibank went too, that's all of the foreign retail / high street banks gone isn't it?


I dunno. I don't pay much attention to the parts of the banking industry that don't directly affect me. I'm pretty sure I've seen other non-Japanese banks around but none that have more than one office (and none that I know of that have ATMs). I only really use CBJ to move money from Japan to the US and for the occasional personal check that someone might send me (though sometimes I just mail checks back to the States and deposit them in my account there). During my first stint here (circa 1994~5) I used them heavily because I was paid in dollars and my employer couldn't figure out how to transfer money here without an ABA number. But they could transfer to CBJ so I did more-or-less the same thing you're doing, though at the time I don't think you could use a CBJ bank card at any convenience stores (or any other bank card, for that matter).

The OP seems to be looking for a single bank with branches on both sides of the ocean and, if such a thing existed, I'd be all ears. But I don't think it does. I don't think the Japanese banking laws would that (all in the name of preventing money laundering... or so they say... ).

BTW, way back when it was the same way in the States -- East Coast banks couldn't have branches on the West Coast and vice-versa. I remember because I used to work for an IT subsidiary of Citibank and we the only live CB ATM in all of California right in our office lobby (for testing, of course ).


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