Banking in Japan can be tedious and time consuming between the amount of paperwork and lack of online options. This is especially true for foreigners who want to send money back home. Luckily, Resona Bank is offering a comprehensive service where you can manage your savings and easily transfer funds overseas via your cell phone. At last, technology has arrived in the banking services sector!
You don’t even have to physically visit a bank to set up an account—all of it is done on the app.
It’s empowering to have all these functions at your fingertips, ready to use anytime and clearly displayed in English and Chinese.
The Resona Group App is unique because it offers a daily banking service as well as overseas remittances. You can transfer funds in yen, U.S. dollars, British pounds, Euros, Australian dollars, or New Zealand dollars.
If you’re interested in a foreign currency account, you can set one up in either U.S. dollars, Euros, Australian dollars, or New Zealand dollars within about five minutes.
Send money home from Japan
Resona is the first major Japanese bank to offer international money transfers through an app. Additionally, it’s the only bank where you can make an overseas remittance and handle all your other banking needs in one handy app!
You can transfer funds to your choice of 20 countries including the U.S., the U.K., Italy, Australia, Canada, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Sweden, Thailand, Taiwan, China (not all regions), Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Philippines, France, Vietnam, Hong Kong, or Mexico.
It’s so much better than standing in line at the bank.
To send money overseas, you need to register in advance for the international transfer service. Advance registration is usually confirmed by the next business day. You can register with either your MyNumber card and passport, or MyNumber notification card, residence card, and passport.
Not only does the app work wonders for international transfers, but you can also transfer money to friends and family within Japan with just a few taps! The screen design for making money transfers is very clear and straightforward.
Although applying for these online services takes a little time, once you’re set up, they are very convenient and simple to use. It’s so much better than standing in line at the bank.
Award-winning design
The Resona Group app was launched in Japanese in 2018 and has been downloaded by more than 2.6 million users as of June 2020. It currently has a 4.6 rating in the Apple store.
A lot of work has been put into making it attractive and easy to use. The app was designed by the innovative people at teamLab who brought us the projection mapping wonders of teamLab Borderless.
The app won a Good Design Award in 2018 but also an App Ape Excellence Award in the popular vote division in 2019. Its simple design and user-friendly functions won it the App Annie Top Publisher Award in 2020. This award praised the app’s one-tap transfer and household account book function.
In April this year, English and simplified Chinese versions were added to make it more accessible for non-Japanese users.
Open your Resona Bank account online
To apply for an account, download the Resona Opening Bank Account app. Although this step is currently only available in Japanese, the system uses electronic identity verification to read the information via photographs that you take of your residence card and automatically inputs it into the online application form.
You will be notified of your new bank account number by email, typically the following business day. It’s that quick.
Along with your new bank account will come a Visa debit card, which will be posted to you in about 10 business days. Use it in any store where Visa is accepted and your payment will be debited directly from your Resona Bank account. This ensures that you don’t spend more money than you have.
Get the full experience
So that you can transfer funds and otherwise manage your savings online, also apply for the Resona Group app. You can download it here.
When you download it, the app will automatically detect what language you are using on your phone and switch to one of the available languages (English, simplified Chinese, or Japanese).
Overseas remittances only cost ¥2,000, plus ¥2,500 to send money in yen.
This app offers an array of online services including domestic fund transfers, timed deposits, payment of utility bills via Pay-easy, as well as access to notices from the bank and your transaction history.
After trying out the Resona Group app and making an overseas remittance ourselves, we were very pleased to see how user-friendly it was! It’s empowering to have all these functions at your fingertips, ready to use anytime and clearly displayed in English and Chinese.
You can download the Resona Group app here and the Resona Opening Bank Account app here.
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I tried this online application process and entered the required information including my residence card scan and a picture of myself finally to be informed that US citizens could not open accounts online and have to appear personally at a physical bank of the Resona Group. Please amend this otherwise informative article to reflect the conditions for US citizens. I expect it is because the USG has an agreement with the GOJ to collect additional information on US citizens.