Re: [tlug] Receiving money internationally

[Bruno Raoult <braoult@example.com>]

On Mon, 29 Aug 2022 at 19:50, Benjamin Kowarsch <trijezdci@example.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 30 Aug 2022 at 01:56, Bruno Raoult wrote:
>> Any bank can make international payments. The  interesting point is
>> that the sender can  decide the amount/currency that the receiver will
>> get, all fees (including exchange rate) being on sender side.
>
> Sure, but transferring money from overseas to a Japanese bank account is a
> real PITA.
>
> First, the fees charged for such transfers can be outrageous.

They could yes, better to choose a competitive bank on sender side ;-)

> Second, transfers from outside Japan to Japanese bank accounts can take a
> long time.
> [...]

Oh, I have a totally different experience, maybe lucky ?
Last time I transferred funds from France to Japan (to Sumitomo Mitsui, Tokyo), I sent the request
by email on Monday 9, 2019, the French bank did the job on same day (they said), and we got the
funds somewhere between Dec 10 and 12 (we used them on Fri 13 for a contract).

But this is just an example: if you are right and it usually does not go smoothly, better to avoid
these bank transfers (but it may be worth a try: if fees are reasonable on sender side, this is a
very simple solution).

> Japan does not participate in the IBAN system.

Exact: The mail I retrieved for the transfer above indicates I gave the following: Account Number
(not IBAN), Account Name, Intermediary (= Sumitomo SWIFT code), Account with institution (forgot
what is is), and Bank Address.

IMHO transfer speed does not depend on IBAN number, the underlying layer is still SWIFT. If some
banks cannot handle SWIFT messages "normally", there is not much we can do (normally, you can get
a copy of the SWIFT message, if you ask the sending bank - I am unsure how the receiving bank
could say they did not receive that message, would you show them a copy).

br.

--
2 + 2 = 5, for very large values of 2.

On Mon, 29 Aug 2022 at 19:50, Benjamin Kowarsch <trijezdci@example.com> wrote:

On Tue, 30 Aug 2022 at 01:56, Bruno Raoult wrote:

Any bank can make international payments. The  interesting point is
that the sender can  decide the amount/currency that the receiver will
get, all fees (including exchange rate) being on sender side.

Sure, but transferring money from overseas to a Japanese bank account is a real PITA.

First, the fees charged for such transfers can be outrageous.

Second, transfers from outside Japan to Japanese bank accounts can take a long time. You may get lucky and it goes smoothly within a couple of weeks, but you may also get unlucky and it will take 2 months. The foreign bank will provide you with evidence that they had sent the money, and the Japanese bank will claim that the money has not arrived yet. You can only wonder who is right. And there is absolutely nothing you can do but wait. And if you are really unlucky, the money may get lost. Then it will take about six months for the amount to be reimbursed to the paying party, but the fees will not be reimbursed.

In  fact, the last time I  transferred  funds from  France to Japan  (

Practically speaking, you only need receiving account information: country,
bank, branch, acc number (IBAN usually), owner etc...

Japan does not participate in the IBAN system. If it did, fees would be low and the transfer would have to complete within three business days. I can only assume that Japanese banks like to hang on to the funds for longer as the interest on all those transfers being stuck in the system for a bit will add up to a really juicy chunk of ill gotten profits at the end of the year. So I am not holding my breath on Japan ever joining the IBAN system.

--

2 + 2 = 5, for very large values of 2.