How To Do A Bank Transfer in Japan

EDIT: Sepetember 2, 2024: I decided to include pictures on how to do a bank transfer at an ATM.

When you’re a JET, you may need to perform bank transfers for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s to pay monthly bills, to pay for bereavement fund memberships, or even to use Wise, you will transfer money this way at least once. Recently, Fukuoka AJET gave me a guide on how to transfer money using an ATM. I’ve adapted this guide into an easy-to-follow blog post for your use (and yes, I received permission from Fukuoka AJET to publish this post).

Instructions

Step 1: Go to your nearest Bank ATM. Unless you have a Japanese bank login, it’s best to do the bank transfer at an ATM.

Step 2: Insert either your bank passbook, or ATM card, into the ATM.

Step 3: You must do the procedure in Japanese. While most ATMs have an English-language option, you may be restricted to the kinds of transactions you can do in English. Unfortunately, bank transfer is one of those restricted transactions.

Step 4: Select お振込み (Bank Transfer) on the home screen. This is where you will initiate the transfer procedure.

Step 5: Choose payment method. From here, you can choose to pay in 現金 (cash), from your 預金通帳 (bank book), or from your キャッシュカード (cash card). I recommend doing it from your bank book, as the ATM will update it with the transaction details.

Step 6: Enter your PIN number. Yes, just like your ATM at home.

Step 7: Select 振込先入力 (input recipient’s account information).

Step 8: Select the name of the recipient’s bank. The ATM will give you a selection of common banks in Japan. For example, 三菱UFG銀行 = MUFG Bank, ゆうちょ銀行 = Japan Post Bank, 三井住友銀行 = Sumitomo Mitusi Banking Corporation, and みずほ銀行 = Mizuho Bank. If you don’t see your bank listed, select 銀行 (bank) and select your bank. In that case, be sure you know how to spell your bank’s name in Japanese!

We will be using PayPay Bank for our example. Since PayPay Bank doesn’t appear on the following menu, we need to manually enter it.

Woah, You’re Halfway There!

Step 9: Enter your recipient’s 支店名 (bank name). You will also need to know how to spell this in Japanese. You should be provided this by the person or entity you are transferring to. In our example, we will be selecting the Shirakaba Branch of PayPay Bank, which is commonly used for doing bank transfers to a Wise JPY balance.

Step 10: Select 普通 (regular) for the 預金の種類 (account type).

Step 11: Enter the recipient’s 口座番号 (account number). This is the seven-digit number provided to you.

Step 12: Next, you will want to select the title for the transaction. 預金通帳本人 means “Your name as registered with the Bank,” while 異なる氏名 means “Different Name.” When transferring with Wise, for example, you want to select 異なる氏名 because Wise wants you to enter a confirmation number. This option will allow you to enter such number. Other services, such as baggage delivery companies, may want you to enter similar information. Again, 異なる氏名 will let you do this.

Step 13: Enter your phone number, or ご依頼人（あなた様）の電話番号. To be clear, the bank wants your Japanese phone number in case they need to contact you regarding the transaction.

Step 14: Enter the amount of money you want to send to the recipient (お振込み金額), then press 確認 (confirm).

Note: Your bank will charge you a small fee to complete the transfer. The fee varies depending on your bank and how much you transfer. Personally, the majority of my bank transfers cost 330 yen, or about $3 USD.

Step 15: Take the receipt of your transaction, and hold on to it. You may need to provide a copy of this receipt to confirm your transfer.

You Did It!

Congratulations! Now you can pat yourself on the back, or celebrate at a Yatai, for a job well done. You successfully completed a bank transfer in Japan! Woohoo! Wait, is it just me who got excited about doing this? Okay, I’ll see myself out.