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ssjup81
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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 Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 10:16 am Post subject: Getting money in Japan |
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Since it seems that the search feature isn't working on here, I decided to make a thread asking.
I need to receive some money, but, I don't have a bank account yet because I'm still waiting on my Alien Registration Card and won't get that until next week. Since I don't have a bank yet, how can one receive money in Japan?
An unexpected bill came up, which is why I need to have some money sent. |
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mhard1
Joined: 09 Dec 2009
Posts: 54
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 10:23 am Post subject: |
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hey
if you have a cash/credit card from your home country then you can use those at several cash atms and post offices in Japan.
I had a Chevy Chase bank account from America that I used to withdrawal money. If my funds were really tight, my mother could always put some money into that account via electronic transfer, and I could withdrawal the cash from Japan with the card from the post office or some ATMs. There might be a small fee of a couple of bucks for the withdrawal but it is nothing major. |
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Bread
Joined: 24 May 2009
Posts: 318
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 10:37 am Post subject: |
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| 7-11 takes the most foreign card types of anywhere I've seen. Maybe Citibank/HSBC, too. I think there's at least one Western Union in Tokyo, too. |
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ssjup81
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 11:04 am Post subject: |
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Well, I couldn't do the ATM thing with my old debit card (which is a Visa), I don't think, since I was with my local credit union back home. It also wouldn't surprise me if I wasn't even able to use my card now.
Also, out of curiosity, if USD are put into your account back home, how do you get it out as yen in Japan? Do you take out USD and then go to a place to exchange it?
As for Western Union, I looked into it before making the thread, and the locations are kinda far off from me. I can't really afford to go all the way to Kanto just to pick up cash from the Western Union. |
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Apsara
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 2142
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 11:28 am Post subject: |
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| ssjup81 wrote: |
Also, out of curiosity, if USD are put into your account back home, how do you get it out as yen in Japan? Do you take out USD and then go to a place to exchange it?
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No, you don't get USD or any other foreign currency out of ATMs here, the banks make the conversion for you at the exchange rate that they set and only yen will come out of the machine.
With credit cards and Western Union you pretty much have all the options for receiving money from overseas here without a bank account- it will have to be one of those, or being posted cash/traveller's cheques. |
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ssjup81
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Okay, gotcha. Interesting how that works. |
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wayne432
Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 255
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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I have a visa debit card with a small local (back home) credit union and I can withdraw money out of any 7-11 enterprise store with no problem.
And also, pulling USD out of an atm in japan would just be silly if you think about it  |
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ssjup81
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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| wayne432 wrote: |
| And also, pulling USD out of an atm in japan would just be silly if you think about it |
Yeah it would, which is why I was asking about it. I was curious how that worked. |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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| ssjup81 wrote: |
| wayne432 wrote: |
| And also, pulling USD out of an atm in japan would just be silly if you think about it |
Yeah it would, which is why I was asking about it. I was curious how that worked. |
This made me chuckle  Thanks.
I'm assuming you don't go abroad much; ATMs will always give you your cash in the local currency regardless of where your card's bank is.
In the UK/EU all VISA and Maestro cards work internationally regardless of the bank they are from, so I can't imagine that VISA cards from US would be any different.
It's more likely that you tried to use an ATM that doesn't accept international cards (or possibly even cards from any other local banks - My father and I found a bank with ATMs like this in Tokyo).
Your best bet is to try JP Post ATMs since not only do they accept more international card types than 7-11s, they also don't add an additional usage fees that is typical when using conveniece store ATMs (even if you are using a Japanese bank card) |
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Asher
Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 47
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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| If you can find a post office, they usually have an ATM that will work...well, I know that's true for Tokyo. Otherwise look for a bank branch that's familiar, like Citibank. Your ATM card will work there as well. |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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Look at your card. Now look at the machine. Now back at your card. I'm holding tickets to.... wait, no, wrong post...
You have four options: does the card say something like Maestro, Cirrus, Plus, or Orion? Those are (some of) the global system standards for retail bank system ATM's to talk to each other - they're actually interbank third party vendors that mediate the transfer, but that's not important right now.
If the card does say any of those and the machine has one of the same labels then you can use it to access your account in whatever country you got the card in. It will spit out local currency. The exchange rate it uses is usually pretty good, unless you're doing it in the US when it will be no more bad than the retail exchange rate they hit you with everywhere.
If it's a credit card then make sure you're drawing from an account, and not simply getting a cash advance.
Tie your shoelaces before leaving your home country as well. 
ETA: and before I forget http://tinyurl.com/29mdgc6 |
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ssjup81
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 12:32 am Post subject: |
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| G Cthulhu wrote: |
| Look at your card. Now look at the machine. Now back at your card. I'm holding tickets to.... wait, no, wrong post... |
I love that commercial.
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| You have four options: does the card say something like Maestro, Cirrus, Plus, or Orion? Those are (some of) the global system standards for retail bank system ATM's to talk to each other - they're actually interbank third party vendors that mediate the transfer, but that's not important right now. |
Visa. I said that earlier, and it's a check card...but can be used as a credit card. I have a credit card to, but I'm not using that for any reason. Either way, the poster above (who is in the same situation) already said that he/she has a debit card through a credit union like I do and can use the ATM at the 7-11. Problem pretty much solved...sorta. I still can't really use my debit card right now which means no ATM optino for me.
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| If it's a credit card then make sure you're drawing from an account, and not simply getting a cash advance. |
Out of curiosity, how or why would anyone use a credit card in an atm machine?
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| Tie your shoelaces before leaving your home country as well. |
No need to be snarky. I asked a question and got my answer. Turns out I needed money prior to when I can open up my bank account (which would be the end of this week, ironically). If I ever needed any extra money, I was planning on using Paypal, but, I don't have a bank connected to the account yet because I haven't opened up one here yet.
I also didn't ask about ATMs, I wanted to know how to receive money in Japan from someone outside of it. I didn't mention ATMs anyplace, you all did. Once again, no need to be snarky. I also mentioned that I couldn't use my debit card...which means that the ATM option is out for me. I don't remember my PIN, which is why I made the thread in the first place. Interesting how selective your reading is. |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 12:53 am Post subject: |
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| ssjup81 wrote: |
| G Cthulhu wrote: |
| Look at your card. Now look at the machine. Now back at your card. I'm holding tickets to.... wait, no, wrong post... |
I love that commercial.
| Quote: |
| You have four options: does the card say something like Maestro, Cirrus, Plus, or Orion? Those are (some of) the global system standards for retail bank system ATM's to talk to each other - they're actually interbank third party vendors that mediate the transfer, but that's not important right now. |
Visa. I said that earlier, and it's a check card...but can be used as a credit card. I have a credit card to, but I'm not using that for any reason.
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No, you don't understand. 
VISA (capitalize it for the company, not the travel/entry stamp) is a card issuer. They have nothing to do with the interbank data transfer. That's run by third party companies - usually owned by VISA or Mastercard, true, but still...
The cards will have the name somewhere on it of which third party company the issuer is using for interoperability.
A check card is just debit card with a bizarre payment cycle, inveted by VISA to suck more money from you.
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Either way, the poster above (who is in the same situation) already said that he/she has a debit card through a credit union like I do and can use the ATM at the 7-11. |
Great! I didn't realize that all credit unions everywhere in the world (or even the US) all opt for and use the same third party data companies and that it happens to be the same one as 7-11 in Japan...
oh, wait, they don't...
I'm not being snarky. I'm pointing out that it's like the blind leading the blind. A lot of credit unions in the US use AllPoint. Wanna try using that outside the US? A lot also use Cirrus. Yr on better ground there. You need to find out which it is. "Oh, it's a credit union so it'll be ok" is a recipe for disappointment.
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Problem pretty much solved.
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Maybe. Maybe not.
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| Quote: |
| If it's a credit card then make sure you're drawing from an account, and not simply getting a cash advance. |
Out of curiosity, how or why would anyone use a credit card in an atm machine?
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Because you can. Some of us have real jobs  and when we travel internationally we simply use a credit card in ATM machines because that's how Accounting wants us to act. It's also safer in many countries. Lots of reasons, actually. I was pointing out a potential pitfall if you weren't aware of it. You've done nothing to dissuade me from that belief so far.
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| Tie your shoelaces before leaving your home country as well. |
No need to be snarky.
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I think there is. People here can offer advice. usually, it's good advice. Sometimes, it isn't. Some of the advice you got was poor, or at least incomplete. The problem is that you don't have enough background knowledge to know which is which. Sorry, but seeing that repeated year after year gets tiring, therefore the snark. It helps stop me simply laughing. |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 1:36 am Post subject: |
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| G Cthulhu wrote: |
VISA (capitalize it for the company, not the travel/entry stamp) is a card issuer. They have nothing to do with the interbank data transfer. That's run by third party companies - usually owned by VISA or Mastercard, true, but still...
The cards will have the name somewhere on it of which third party company the issuer is using for interoperability. |
They used to have the stamps you are talking about. In the past my VISA cards used to have the Plus logo and Switch (now Marestro) cards used to have Cirrus. I just checked all my cards and none of them have anything other than VISA or Maestro printed on them now. Perhaps it's the same for OP's card(s) which is why he insists that they are only VISA cards. |
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ssjup81
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 1:51 am Post subject: |
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| G Cthulhu wrote: |
VISA (capitalize it for the company, not the travel/entry stamp) is a card issuer. They have nothing to do with the interbank data transfer. That's run by third party companies - usually owned by VISA or Mastercard, true, but still...
The cards will have the name somewhere on it of which third party company the issuer is using for interoperability. |
So using a debit card/credit card that was issued to you from a bank, whether it's from a local credit union like mine or from someplace like a Wachovia that has the VISA emblem on it wouldn't be usable in a 7-11 ATM? Oh yeah, out of habit, I just call a debit card a check card. Wonder if it's a southern US thing.
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| A check card is just debit card with a bizarre payment cycle, inveted by VISA to suck more money from you. |
Really? I don't recall ever having to pay anything on it since I used it mostly as an ATM. If I actually wanted to do something credit-related, I'd just use my actual credit card, which is a VISA too.
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Great! I didn't realize that all credit unions everywhere in the world (or even the US) all opt for and use the same third party data companies and that it happens to be the same one as 7-11 in Japan...
oh, wait, they don't...
I'm not being snarky. I'm pointing out that it's like the blind leading the blind. A lot of credit unions in the US use AllPoint. Wanna try using that outside the US? A lot also use Cirrus. Yr on better ground there. You need to find out which it is. "Oh, it's a credit union so it'll be ok" is a recipe for disappointment.
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Problem pretty much solved.
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Maybe. Maybe not.
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| Quote: |
| If it's a credit card then make sure you're drawing from an account, and not simply getting a cash advance. |
Out of curiosity, how or why would anyone use a credit card in an atm machine?
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Because you can. Some of us have real jobs and when we travel internationally we simply use a credit card in ATM machines because that's how Accounting wants us to act. It's also safer in many countries. Lots of reasons, actually. I was pointing out a potential pitfall if you weren't aware of it. You've done nothing to dissuade me from that belief so far. |
Seriously, the idea of using a credit card at an ATM just sounds weird to me, I guess that's because I never would've thought of doing something like that. I'm one of those types who don't like to use my credit card unless it's for an emergency, although, back home, the "emergency" usually would be for maybe a doctor's visit since I couldn't afford to pay for one.
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| I think there is. People here can offer advice. usually, it's good advice. Sometimes, it isn't. Some of the advice you got was poor, or at least incomplete. The problem is that you don't have enough background knowledge to know which is which. Sorry, but seeing that repeated year after year gets tiring, therefore the snark. It helps stop me simply laughing. |
But it's not necessary, and also, I said in the first post that the search option wasn't working for me. Usually I look stuff up before I make threads asking about it. I did a search on this board, since the people here are the most informative I've come across (imo), but the page wouldn't load or anything after I typed it in, hence this thread. IMO, there's never any reason to be snarky with anyone...but that's just how I am to people, since, everyone was "new" at some point. |
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