Best way to transfer US Fund from USA to Japan without converting to Yen

JerseyBoy · 23 Feb 2007

Is there a wire transfer method to transfer US fund from USA to a Japanese account (saving, checking, and etc) without converting US fund into Japanese yen? I want to keep my US fund as it is in a Japanese account (while getting some interests as any saving account does).

There are many banks in Japan which offer Gaishi accounts (foreign currency fund account). I was told Japanese banks would need to receive it in Japanese Yen and then convert it to US Dollar in Japan if I send the US fund from USA to Japan by wire transfer. That would mean double exchange, which is not good.

Glenski · 23 Feb 2007

I want to keep my US fund as it is in a Japanese account (while getting some interests

Interest in Japan is 0.01-0.02%.
Is it really worth it?

JerseyBoy · 23 Feb 2007

For the foreign currency based saving account, you can get higher interest rate(as it is generally set by the Central or Federal bank of the currency-issuing country). For a regular Yen account, the interest rate is nil because of the current interest rate set by Japanese Central Bank.

Glenski · 24 Feb 2007

You seem to know a lot already. Have you tried CitiBank?

DoctorP · 24 Feb 2007

I was thinking the same thing. If he is going to be near Tokyo or other large city they have about 25 branches in Japan.

You can check their website here!

To find the current interest rate you have to visit a branch though.

yukio_michael · 24 Feb 2007

You can send an international money order which would be in US dollars--- I know this isn't a wire transfer, but this may be an option for you.

JerseyBoy · 24 Feb 2007

From what I heard, it seems depositing US Dollar into those foreign currency savings account require the actual cash deposit in person (not wire transfer). The amount I am thinking is more than $50,000 and I prefer avoiding unnecessary currency conversion during the wire transfer.

One of the banks systems is: US dollar from a US bank to a Japanese bank, Dollar to Yen conversion, a Japanese bank convert that yen back to US Dollar to deposit into the foreign currency account. Obviously, I don't want to do that process as that mean double handling charges. I prefer one flat fee wire transfer fee and my US Dollars go straight into a foreign currency account in Japan. Also, I heard there are cap on the amount of money order I can do in a day.

GaijinPunch · 25 Feb 2007

Citibank US to Citibank Japan (multi-currency) should be extremely cheap. $10 or so. You might want to check on an International Postal Money Order. They run $3.50, but I'm not sure if you can cash them outside of the post office (which will only give you yen, FYI).

Glenski · 26 Feb 2007

Why on earth would you want $50,000 USD in a Japanese bank? Even Citibank? What is the interest rate?

You will notice that there is a 20% tax on interest, looking at that link.

JerseyBoy · 26 Feb 2007

Glenski said:
Why on earth would you want $50,000 USD in a Japanese bank? Even Citibank? What is the interest rate?
You will notice that there is a 20% tax on interest, looking at that link.

I am planning to do a relocation and I want to set up my money on both countries so that I can have more flexibility. I am going to set up more money into my would-be Japanese bank account as I would stay there more than in USA in the future.
I am looking into Citi Bank now. It seems it is very easy to transfer money between Citi accounts worldwide. The thing I am concerned is if I can transfer the money from my US Citi Bank account to a yet-to-be-set-up Citi Bank account in Japan after I arrive in Japan. I am doubtful that CitiBank would let me open both accounts in USA and Japan at the same time (if they could do, that would be great, though).
Eventually, I would put some of money into the mutual funds or other investment accounts. I am not sure if there are foreign currency-based mutual funds in Japan or not. In that case, I might as well just wire it to Japan from USA and convert it to Yen (pay the penalty with the exchange rate and handling fee, which could be a decent sum of money).

JimmySeal · 26 Feb 2007

This may be a silly, uninformed question for me to make, but what use would you have for keeping US$ in the bank here in Japan if you're going to be going back and forth? Why not just keep it in an account in the US? With the spread of online banking, it would be very easy to keep track of your money and investments from anywhere in the world.

JerseyBoy · 26 Feb 2007

JimmySeal said:
This may be a silly, uninformed question for me to make, but what use would you have for keeping US$ in the bank here in Japan if you're going to be going back and forth? Why not just keep it in an account in the US? With the spread of online banking, it would be very easy to keep track of your money and investments from anywhere in the world.

I think my original post was not clear. Let me put it this way: I prefer keeping my money close to my home base. My future stay in USA would be minimum at best and I prefer keeping monetary assets in Japan just in case immigration rules in USA have changes in the near future (I bet it will change). The last thing I would like to prevent is I loose my access to my because I am not in the country where the account is set up.
I have been googling this question but I was not able to find it. I hope there is an answer to: how I can bring my US Dollars to a bank account in Japan without converting to Japanese Yen in transit (so that I don't take risk in exchange rate fluctuations and its handling fee by banks) and keep it in US Dollar in the savings account (or other investment accounts in USD) in Japan until I take it out for use in Japan.

GaijinPunch · 27 Feb 2007

There are ways to keep your money in the US without being there. You will definitely need to file for taxes though. You should find a financial planner (that deals with immigrants) and knows the rules on such things. There are plenty of people that don't live in the US, but invest in the US stock market. I'm sure places like Fidelity have accounts for people just like you.

On the other hand, I understand about wanting to keep your money close to home. I would, however, suggest putting your savings in a nice set of mutual funds though that will accrue over time.

JimmySeal · 27 Feb 2007

This is still not an answer to your question but I will say that the dollar is up against the yen right now, probably almost as high as it's ever been in the last few years, so it might not be the worst thing to convert your dollars to yen and keep them as yen (you're going to have to convert them to yen eventually, aren't you?) Anyway, I think GaijinPunch's suggestion of consulting a financial planner is a good one, especially considering that you're going to be making investments in the future and savings account interest is probably not the best rate you can get.

Glenski · 27 Feb 2007

I prefer keeping monetary assets in Japan just in case immigration rules in USA have changes in the near future (I bet it will change).

How would that affect you? Aren't you American? (And, why do you bet the immigration laws would change, and to what degree that you need to be close to your money?)

GaijinPunch · 28 Feb 2007

Aren't you American?

No, the OP is Japanese (as he's stated in another thread). He is most likely nervous about all the asset freezing going on by the current regime.

JerseyBoy · 28 Feb 2007

GaijinPunch said:
No, the OP is Japanese (as he's stated in another thread). He is most likely nervous about all the asset freezing going on by the current regime.

You have very good memory.

Your assessment is absolutely correct. There is a risk associated with leaving my assets in the country where I don't have citizenship. The way the current administration has been perceived by other countries (or by its own people to some extent depending their political affiliation) has reinforced my concern on safety of my financial assets.

Glenski · 1 Mar 2007

Thanks for the explanation. I don't understand why Jersey Boy didn't offer that small piece of information or answer my question earlier about being afraid of immigration laws changing in the USA (tipoff to me that he may not have been American)... Geez.

JerseyBoy · 1 Mar 2007

Glenski said:
Thanks for the explanation. I don't understand why Jersey Boy didn't offer that small piece of information or answer my question earlier about being afraid of immigration laws changing in the USA (tipoff to me that he may not have been American)... Geez.

No offense not replying to your post. I thought this thread is getting no where if I am getting "questions" on my questions I posted on this thread instead of getting answers or insights into my original questions.

JerseyBoy · 2 Mar 2007

I am going to set up a checking account with Citi in USA and my parents in Japan are going to set up an account with Citi Japan for me. I learned I can transfer money back and forth between other Citi accounts worldwide via its online banking service. So, I am successful in setting this up, I should be able to park my money in Citi's USA account which has a higher interest rate than the one in Japan. The only complication would be how I am going to take care of the tax on the interest I would earn. I hope I don't have to file the US tax return simply as long as I am not working in USA.
Thanks for suggesting Citi in this thread.

JerseyBoy · 9 Mar 2007

Talking about the money transfer, I heard there is a tax on the money in the bank account if it is over JPY 3,000,000 (about USD 30,000). Does anyone know the money transferred from overseas is also taxable? My understanding is the tax would be levied if you earn the money in that country. When you deposit your money (which is earned outside Japan and through the occupation not affiliated with your job position in Japan) into a Japanese bank account, were you taxed?

Best way to transfer US Fund from USA to Japan without converting to Yen

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