Neobanks in Japan

thomas · 29 Oct 2021

Today, @Maciamo asked me whether I could recommend any neobanks in Japan. To be honest, I wasn't familiar with the term; neobanks are online banks, digital banks or virtual banks that operate online without any physical presence. They are called ネット銀行 (nettoginkō) or インターネット専業銀行 (intānetto sengyōginkō) in Japanese.

Currently, the following neobanks are operating in Japan:

JAL Global Wallet (in Japanese)
Jibun Bank (operated by au, in Japanese)
Kyash (in Japanese)
Neat (HK-based)
Rakuten Wallet (in Japanese)
Revolut (UK-based, in English)
Sony Bank (in English and Japanese)
Sumishin Net Bank (in Japanese)
Wise (Transferwise), UK-based (in English)

Neat, Revolut, and Wise are based outside Japan but accept open mobile bank accounts/wallets for residents of Japan. Wise (Transferwise) is a money transfer/payment service, not a full-blown online bank. JAL Global Wallet, Jibun Bank, Kyash, Sony Bank, and Sumishin Net Bank offer personal accounts with debit cards to all residents of Japan. Rakuten Wallet is a crypto exchange limited to residents of Japan.

Nikkei Asia on neobanks in Japan:

Neo banks are financial institutions that offer their services exclusively via technology and are not part of an established large company. Neo banks make use of technology, known as application programming interfaces, or APIs, which allows their customers to share existing financial information held by traditional banks and use that information to access services provided by the neo banks. [...] What this boils down to is that Japanese consumers are still faced with high fees, burdensome processes and the inability to access flexible and convenient services. For example, Revolut's European clients are able to set up accounts in several currencies with a few clicks. In Japan, opening a foreign currency account, particularly for business clients, is often a long process that will require a detailed explanation as to its uses and needs, and may actually not be approved by the bank in the end. Yet, Japanese authorities have been championing digital innovation and progress in financial services for years. The Tokyo Government has been running an innovation competition since 2018 inviting foreign and domestic financial service providers to provide solutions to everyday financial problems faced by Tokyo residents.

Where are Japan's neo banks?

Lack of fintech innovation severely disadvantages consumers

asia.nikkei.com

We shall update the list of online banks above as more services will become available in Japan.

johnnyG · 29 Oct 2021

I've read good things about about Sony Bank, I might start with them if I were considering a new account.

I don't think of Wise as a bank--more as a money transfer service, with some add-ons. Not sure about this, but I think I've read that there is a ¥1million balance limit of some kind (due to them not being a Japan entity?).

Maybe rakuten should also be on the list?

thomas · 29 Oct 2021

Revolut seems to be just a transfer service, too. Honestly, I'm not too sure which additional services online banks offer over "wallets".

Thanks for mentioning Rakuten!

mdchachi · 29 Oct 2021

Is there any advantage to the neobanks? I still have an account at First Internet Bank of Indiana that I opened 20 years ago. But at that time no U.S. banks offered Internet banking which is why I opened it -- so I could do remote banking from Japan.

thomas · 29 Oct 2021

According to Maciamo, neobanks are all the rage in Europe, not only because of their convenience in international travel but also because they show the carbon footprint of purchases. Some of them even offer carbon offset plans. I doubt that environmental concerns play any role in how Japanese neobanks operate; however, I hope to be proven wrong.

Maciamo · 30 Oct 2021

Thanks, Thomas. I have made a summary table of the neobanks available in Japan with the App Store and Playstore rating. I didn't list Wise because it's just a money transfer app, not a proper bank.

[TABLE=full]
[TR]
[TD]Bank[/TD]
[TD]Languages[/TD]
[TD]App Store rating[/TD]
[TD]Playstore rating[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Revolut[/TD]
[TD]24 languages[/TD]
[TD]4.7[/TD]
[TD]4.5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Kyash[/TD]
[TD]Ja[/TD]
[TD]4.5[/TD]
[TD]4.4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]SBI Sumishin Net Bank[/TD]
[TD]Ja[/TD]
[TD]4.5[/TD]
[TD]4.2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rakuten Wallet[/TD]
[TD]Ja[/TD]
[TD]4.1[/TD]
[TD]3.9[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]JAL Global Wallet[/TD]
[TD]Ja[/TD]
[TD]3.8[/TD]
[TD]3.9[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sony Bank[/TD]
[TD]Ja, En[/TD]
[TD]1.8[/TD]
[TD]3.9[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]au Jibun Bank[/TD]
[TD]Ja[/TD]
[TD]2.3[/TD]
[TD]3.2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Neat[/TD]
[TD]En[/TD]
[TD]2.3[/TD]
[TD]3.2[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Revolut is surely the best for foreigners in Japan for the following reasons:

available in 24 languages
free multi-currency accounts in over 140 currencies at interbank rate with no commission on the exchange rate
trading in many cryptocurrencies
free ATM withdrawal in any bank worldwide (not just in Japan) of 25,000 yen per month with the free plan (100,000 yen with the Metal card), which makes it great for travelling too.
Free money transfers to any other Revolut account worldwide.
Free disposable virtual cards for online shopping.
Possibility to change PIN, block card, enable/disable ATM withdrawal and online shopping anytime through the app.
Junior accounts for kids from 6 to 17 years old that parents can manage from their account (not yet available in Japan but apparently coming soon)

I have been using Revolut for 5 years and I am very satisfied.

What's really missing from Revolut is the carbon footprint of purchases with carbon offset like Tomorrow. At present Tomorrow is only available in the Eurozone.

thomas · 30 Oct 2021

Thanks, @Maciamo, that's very helpful!

I've updated the first post to reflect the information on Wise.

Neobanks in Japan

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Where are Japan's neo banks?

johnnyG

Sempai

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

mdchachi

Moderator

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Maciamo

先輩

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Similar threads