Using WISE to repatriate USD from Firstrade to Japan? (2024)

I’m thinking of opening a WISE account to transfer USD funds from my Firstrade account to Japan so I can invest in Japanese mutual funds in a NISA account.

Is this a good move? Are there any other ways of transferring relatively large amounts from a US online broker to Japan safely and cheaply? Thanks!

If you're US, don't buy mutual funds here--all are PFICs according to US rules, and a humongous tax, and tax prep, headache.

If you're not US, then ignore that.

captainspoke wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 9:47 amIf you're US, don't buy mutual funds here--all are PFICs according to US rules, and a humongous tax, and tax prep, headache.

If you're not US, then ignore that.

Good to know, thanks. Fortunately not US, but just reading about this PFIC rule sent shivers down my spine…
Japanese mutual funds (the low cost type) in a NISA a/c seem like a great way to get a DRIP effect without tax reporting tears!

Tho things may have changed, I've read that Wise is good for small transfers, up to maybe ¥6-700,000. For a larger amount (over ¥1m) you'd need to do multiple transfers (=less cost effective as the overall amount gets larger).

https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/w ... /transfers

I would wire the funds--have Firstrade wire it to either a Sony or Shinsei bank account here (in US dollars), and do the conversion here, after it arrives. (And i don't have any experience with them, but have read a number of negative reports/experiences with japan post bank, I'd avoid them completely.)

Also, there was a recent discussion over there on reddit, and someone from Wise was participating. The gist was that Wise has improved its services and rates (and also got a new type of banking license), so the chart in the above link may be a little out of date. Wise does have a slick, modern interface, while some folks are put off by wire transfers (which is all I've ever done).

If you register your WISE account to a non-Japanese address there is no limit on balance.

https://wise.com/help/articles/2893492/ ... an-receive

However, if you register your WISE account to a Japanese address there are limits on balance.

https://wise.com/help/articles/3GBSRou4 ... e-in-japan

:
:
This Guide to Japanese Taxes, English and Japanese Tai-Yaku 対訳, is now a little dated:

https://zaik.jp/books/472-4

The Publisher is not planning to publish an update for '23 Tax Season.

captainspoke wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 10:31 amTho things may have changed, I've read that Wise is good for small transfers, up to maybe ¥6-700,000. For a larger amount (over ¥1m) you'd need to do multiple transfers (=less cost effective as the overall amount gets larger).

https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/w ... /transfers

I would wire the funds--have Firstrade wire it to either a Sony or Shinsei bank account here (in US dollars), and do the conversion here, after it arrives. (And i don't have any experience with them, but have read a number of negative reports/experiences with japan post bank, I'd avoid them completely.)

Also, there was a recent discussion over there on reddit, and someone from Wise was participating. The gist was that Wise has improved its services and rates (and also got a new type of banking license), so the chart in the above link may be a little out of date. Wise does have a slick, modern interface, while some folks are put off by wire transfers (which is all I've ever done).

I just found this on the Firstrade Q&A section, so apparently I won't be able to withdraw funds to a WISE account.

Can I transfer funds between Firstrade and Money Transfer Services?
As an online brokerage firm, Firstrade does not accept transferring funds to and from money transfer services such as Wise, Revolut, PayPal, Western Union, Passbook by Remitly, CurrencyFair, etc.; only using U.S. bank accounts such as checking or savings accounts is accepted.

Fortunately I do have a Sony Bank account so your suggestion to have Firstrade wire the money in US dollars to Sony, and then do the conversion at Sony sounds like the way forward. Thankfully Sony has very competitive exchange rates, and they don't charge a lifting charge to receive USD transfters, so I should be able to withdraw money from Firstrade with just the $25 wire transfer charge and 3000 yen or whatever it is Sony's correspondent bank (JP Morgan Chase) charges to process the remittance which is not so bad as long as the remittance is not for a small amount. Thanks for the suggestion!

ChapInTokyo wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:43 pmI just found this on the Firstrade Q&A section, so apparently I won't be able to withdraw funds to a WISE account.

Can I transfer funds between Firstrade and Money Transfer Services?
As an online brokerage firm, Firstrade does not accept transferring funds to and from money transfer services such as Wise, Revolut, PayPal, Western Union, Passbook by Remitly, CurrencyFair, etc.; only using U.S. bank accounts such as checking or savings accounts is accepted.

I would imagine doing a bank transfer to a Wise virtual US bank account might work.

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Tkydon wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 11:46 amIf you register your WISE account to a non-Japanese address there is no limit on balance.

https://wise.com/help/articles/2893492/ ... an-receive

However, if you register your WISE account to a Japanese address there are limits on balance.

https://wise.com/help/articles/3GBSRou4 ... e-in-japan

I see. So in my case I'd use it simply as a transfer service, rather than as a bank account. I'm losing track of all my bank accounts and credit cards as it is, so probably not a bad thing lol!

RetireJapan wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:52 pm

ChapInTokyo wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:43 pmI just found this on the Firstrade Q&A section, so apparently I won't be able to withdraw funds to a WISE account.

Can I transfer funds between Firstrade and Money Transfer Services?
As an online brokerage firm, Firstrade does not accept transferring funds to and from money transfer services such as Wise, Revolut, PayPal, Western Union, Passbook by Remitly, CurrencyFair, etc.; only using U.S. bank accounts such as checking or savings accounts is accepted.

I would imagine doing a bank transfer to a Wise virtual US bank account might work.

Thanks for the heads up. You can get a virtual US bank account at Wise? I'll have to go find out a bit more about that!

RetireJapan wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:52 pm

ChapInTokyo wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:43 pmI just found this on the Firstrade Q&A section, so apparently I won't be able to withdraw funds to a WISE account.

Can I transfer funds between Firstrade and Money Transfer Services?
As an online brokerage firm, Firstrade does not accept transferring funds to and from money transfer services such as Wise, Revolut, PayPal, Western Union, Passbook by Remitly, CurrencyFair, etc.; only using U.S. bank accounts such as checking or savings accounts is accepted.

I would imagine doing a bank transfer to a Wise virtual US bank account might work.

Unfortunately, when I tried to link the "Wise(US) Checking Account" to my Firstrade account so that it would allow ACH transfers to and from Wise's virtual account, the Firstrade site just would not allow the link, returning a "Profile setup for this bank is not supported" error.

So, pity about Wise. At this point it seems that a normal wire transfer to Sony Bank or somewhere is the cheapest way of getting large sums of USD back from Firstrade, and a Visa Debit from a konbini ATM the cheapest way of getting sums up to 100,000 yen back from Firstrade.

Thanks for the suggestion about Wise though. I'd heard about it but had never set up an account there, so it was good that now I have an account all set up there ready to be used in the future if the need arises!