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seklarwia · Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:12 pm Post subject:

Never had a problem when I was living in Europe for a year either. It was fine in China and HK, too.

I tried telling them before hand. They told that there was no way to put a note on my account before but not to worry me that many Flexaccount card holders got them especially to be used abroad, so they wouldn't see international use as irregular.

They look at things like your spending habits as well as location. When I spoke to them after, they told me that they always scrutinize international transactions more closely. I occasionally make very large purchases on my card, but I very rarely make large withdrawls. When I got here though, I was withdrawing my limit daily, which they thought was suspicious. But when I also started purchasing things from Japanese based sites (not typical holiday spending behaviour) and it became apparent I was never using my cards in places where I might be asked for ID (like is common in many stores in EU countries) they thought that perhaps my card had been stolen.

Travellers checks can be a nuisance to cash. You might have to visit larger bank branches to do it as many smaller ones won't. And if you want to have any real hope of getting them dealt with, you'd need to buy them in Yen.

Honestly, Japan is a very safe country. If you aren't being careless with your things, it's fine to carry around large sums of money. Japan is a cash country, where very few stores accept cards. Most people carry around amounts that simply wouldn't be advised in UK or most other western countries.

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

seklarwia · Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:45 am Post subject:

But once you leave the likes of Tokyo, it becomes way more difficult. The supermall area around our shinkansen station has many chain stores where cards are accepted.

But visit the shotengai only 5 mins drive away and you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere that does, including the local estate agent and long-distance bus ticket stand.

I wouldn't try to make using cards sound too easy to someone from the UK where people can pay for a coffee in a small cafe by card and even kids have Solo and Electron chip cards and use them to pay for a single bar of chocolate in a corner newsagent. I don't think I've been to a bar, club or pub in the UK that doesn't accept cards in many years now.

People carry cash in Japan. And unlike in the UK, it is safe to carry cash here.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

Just to add to the traveler's checks comment, they're pretty useless here. Many branches can't cash them (depends on the issuer and currency) and as noted you have to cash them; you can't use them anywhere here as you might in some other countries.

The international debit cards are becoming a lot more acceptable now, but it would depend on where you're based. Tokyo certainly is a lot better than when I first came here, and even here that only changed in the last 2 years!

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

seklarwia · Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 3:30 pm Post subject:

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

It was the estate agent I was particularly interested in- what kind of transaction would you make with a credit card at an estate agent? Do you mean rent payments? In NZ at least I wouldn't expect a real estate agent to handle any kind of direct transaction- house sales usually go through banks.

Incidentally, you can use your credit card at JR stations to buy tickets for long distance travel.

seklarwia · Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:32 pm Post subject:

Advertisement costs to find a new tenant for a property where the agent will not be the landlord and therefore gets a one off payment.

But what about local trains?

gwynnie86 · Joined: 27 Apr 2009 Posts: 159

Hey

OK, I know that I won't be able to transfer money straight into my new Japanese account, as it will take a few days/weeks to set up. I do have online banking so when I do have the account it'll hopefully be a lot more possible. As for the rest of my money I have a HSBC account (visa debit) and an Abbey national ISA which I have a cash card (cirrus) for, which apparently I can use anywhere abroad. I'm planning on bringing cash with me (in Yen, of course) but isn't there a limit for how much you can take with you on a plane? And then in a year's time, I'll need to figure out how to transfer any money I might have left in my J account back into one of my UK accounts so that I can enjoy it back home! Will that work? x

seklarwia · Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 10:09 pm Post subject:

There is no real limit on the amount of cash you carry onto the plane. It's just that you need to declare to customs if you are carrying more than 10,000... I forget whether it's pounds or dollars on your way into Japan, but it doesn't matter either. You can transfer money back to the UK. Once you have set it up, JP ATMs have an English option that allows you to do that. But if the worst comes to the worse, you can always carry it back in cash since you are unlikely going to have saved more than �10,000 in a single year.

Rezz · Joined: 26 May 2009 Posts: 95

Some great info in this thread - cheers.

As an aside, do all Japanese banks have online banking? Not sure who I will be setup with when I start work but I'd like to think I'll be able to check my funds online.