Job Discussion Forums

[sushi]

I am wondering about the Post Offices facility for wiring money out of the country. Someone has told me that CityＢａｎｋ ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　Ｕ．Ｓ．handles the transactions. Has anyone used the post office for telegraphic transfers to the U.S say, and if so did the money get there without any major screw ups?

[Zzonkmiles]

I've never used the post office, but whenever I have to wire money home (furikomi), I use Lloyd's. They charge a 2000 yen commission per remittance, so it's best to make sure you transfer a lot of money at a time. I have never had any problems with my money showing up in my bank account back home. They also send me a record of the transaction that arrives in my mailbox only days after making the transaction. Lloyd's uses Mitsui Sumitomo Bank, by the way. So if you have an account with them, it's quite convenient. The address is www.golloyds.com. Highly recommended.

[markle]

I used the post office just the other day. The Post office is cheaper, 1000 yen for ordinary (takes about a week) and 1700 for telegraphic (about 2days) and you don't have to register like with Llyods which requires you to download the form, fill it in and sign it, then post it to Lloyds, it takes about two weeks to process(?) At the post office you walk in with your gaijin card/passport and ALL the details of your bank back home (including address and branch name) and it's done on the spot.

There are some differences in the rate you will get between the two but I'm not sure which is better.

[Jon Taylor]

The post office is the best way to send money back home.

It costs me 1000 yen to send any amount back home.

I have done this on three occasions and each time, the money has been in my account within 24 hours.

You only need provide your gaijin card and bank details.

[ava77]

You can send money through western union but the hours are only until 3pm. It is located at Mitskoshi Station on the Ginza line.

[Sody]

Could someone please give me more precise details on how to send money overseas with a post office? I want to send money back to my home country (Canada). Do I simply go to a Japanese post office with the bank details of the account I have in Canada and fill out a form? I bring the money to the post office and they do the currency exchange right then and there right? I would appreciate any advice or feedback you can give me please.

Sody

[Gordon]

You take the money to the PO and then exchange it into CDN funds and send it as a postal money order. It takes about 2 weeks, it is not being wired to Canada. You send the money to a PERSON in Canada and they then stick it into your CDN bank account. The bank will ask you for a purpose for the transaction, you can just say it is a gift.

[mrjohndub]

So, are there different types of money orders? I've not known before of a money order which results in the money being sent to your own account in N. America via money order...

I'm interested in sending to an individual in the U.S. by mailing a money order. Do they exchange funds into dollars for me? Is there an additional fee for the conversion, as well as the money order itself and mailing? How many total fees are there? Are there forms at the post office that would make it easier for somebody with low (read: no) Japanese proficiency? Or does Japan Post have English customer support on the phone to anybody's knowledge?

Thanks

[Brooks]

you can fill out the form in English.
You pay a fee if you want them to mail it (500 yen - if you are sending a lot of money), and one for the process (1000 yen, I think)
The yen are converted into dollars.
What you mail are checks which can be cashed. My father cashes the checks at a local drug store.

[Apsara]

I am a big fan of LLoyd's (partly because the postal thing isn't available to my country!)- sure the set up for golloyds might take some time- I don't remember it being as long as a couple of weeks though- and after that no more forms to fill out ever, just furikomi from the bank ATM, the money's in your account within 36 hours and you get a statement in the mail a few days later. I sent money for friends to their countries using the post office twice and it was a pain- once it took so long I was late for work and had my pay docked. Just my opinion.

[Willy_In_Japan]

I am Canadian and use the post office to send money back. I find that they give the fairest rate of exchange.

They charge 1000 yen to send back up to 100,000 yen. I recently paid 1,500 yen to send back 140,000 yen.

It takes about 3 weeks. I send it to my father made out to him and he receives a cheque in the mail about 3 weeks later via the Canadian post office. He deposits the money into my account.

The only problems I have had with this method, is that you must include the reason you are sending money in a little box. I made the mistake of saying 'to pay credit card' once and they wanted to know what I bought etc. Putting down 'to pay loan' seemed to be a better option.

[Sweetsee]

I used to go to the bank in my neighborhood, buy U.S. dollars travelers checks, send them to my bank in the States and write checks to pay bills back there, before back in the day. Not supposed to do that probably but it worked.

[sushi]

OK I wired money from the post office and it did get there. I had the dickens of a time trying to fill out the form though, but I had a previous transaction from a bank in Korea so they were able to guide me through the filling out of the details.

I didn't have all my visa documents as yet, so they said a drivers license from my home country would suffice as a second I.D. Passport was OK, but they still needed another I.D.