I had been using Citibank global online account for a number of years to transfer money from Singapore to Japan because of the zero handling charges until Citigroup decided to sell its retail banking services to SMBC Trust Bank under the brand name Prestia. Fortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that I can still transfer money to my now Prestia account from overseas Citibank accounts without incurring unnecessary processing fees.
I usually transfer SGD from my Singapore account to my friend’s account in Singapore, and they will transfer that amount to my Japanese account with their Citibank accounts. It sounds like a lot of work, but I feel it’s worth the trouble to save on the unnecessary charges and thankfully, I have friends who are willing to do that for me and whom I can trust to transfer my money to. So if you have good friends or family members who have Citibank accounts at home (or even you yourself), you can try opening a Prestia account in Japan to avoid having to pay fees during fund transfers. Note that my account was converted from Citibank to Prestia due to the takeover so I’m not sure if the rules are different for new accounts (although I think it’s the same).
The downside of using the Citibank-Prestia account transfers to send money between Singapore and Japan is that, while you can convert your SGD to JPY via Citibank before transferring to Prestia, the option is not available the other way round. This is because Prestia doesn’t give you the option to convert your cash to SGD. Your next best option is USD but what use is USD if you’re going to send it back to Singapore? Does that mean it’s only a one-way transfer then?
For the Citibank-Prestia method, it appears to be so. However, a fintech startup called Transferwise allows you to convert almost any currency to almost any other currency and send the money to the designated bank account in many countries around the world. Of course, there’s handling fee here but at between 0.5 to 1 percent, it’s supposed to be cheaper than most bank transfer options, so sending $500 would cost you $5. Conversion is also done at the prevailing rate and you are actually changing with people who want your currency. I haven’t used Transferwise myself because as much as possible, I still do not want to pay handling charges, so unless I urgently want my money back in SGD, my other option would be to wait till my next return before bringing some cash back to change manually.
Cheap, right?
I’ve never transferred money electronically back to Singapore, but nice to know there’s a zero handling fee option out there!
Singapore to Japan is free but not the other way round, unfortunately.
Hello,
I’ll be living in Tokyo for the next 4 years and I have some queries regarding banking/money.
If I set up a Citibank account here in SG, will I be able to link it to a PRESTIA account that I set up over when I reach Japan?
And I heard a lot of about charges when you withdraw from an ATM. Say, if I withdraw 10,000 yen in Japan, how much will I get charged? And is there an extra charge for withdrawing after a certain time (eg 8pm)?
Hi EvilCinnamonRoll,
I’m not certain what you mean by “link,” but if you have a Citibank account in Singapore and a Prestia account in Japan, you should be able to make transfers from Singapore to Japan without incurring handling fees. Note that this does not work the other way round because Prestia does not offer the option to convert JPY to SGD. But you can actually withdraw cash from your Singapore Citibank account at Prestia ATMs even without opening a Prestia account here, if that’s an option for you.
You are right about the withdrawal charges. But the silver lining is that, these charges are mainly for withdrawals after hours. The charges usually go at flat rates of between 108 to around 216 yen depending on the day and time you withdraw, so you are charged the same regardless of whether you withdraw 100,000 or 1,000 yen.
Fortunately, there are bank options that do not charge you for withdrawals regardless of the time. Some of those are JP Bank, Shinsei Bank, and SMBC Trust Bank’s Prestia. Note, however, that withdrawals at ATMs belonging to other banks without tie-ups with your banks will incur you charges regardless of when you withdraw.
If you’re going to be working here, I suggest you check with your company which of those banks they accept. Some companies cannot transfer salaries to certain bank accounts and may want you to open one with Mitsubishi UFJ. But if you’re here for school and expect to do regular transfers from Singapore to Japan, that Prestia might be a better option.
Dear Sirs
Doing the transition period. I remember I was able to redrawal from SMBC atm from my Citibank JPY account for FOC. Do you know if that is still the case ?
Kind Regards
M
Hi M,
If you had a Citibank Japan account then, it means your account has been transferred to SMBC Trust Bank Prestia and you can still use the same ATM card to withdraw from all Prestia ATMs. It is not compulsory to change your card to the Prestia card. However, if you mean whether you can withdraw from SMBC ATMs instead of SMBC Trust Bank ATMs, then I’m guessing that is not possible. I’ve tried to withdraw before but it doesn’t even allow me to do it, let alone with a fee.
Hi there! I had this idea of using Citibank too but it didn’t work out in the end for me as things got complicated with the SMBC changes. Anyway, I would like to share an alternative that I found a few months ago to send money back to SG – WorldRemit (https://www.worldremit.com/)
The fee is unbelievably low that at first I was afraid it was a scam as I had never heard of this website and nobody had ever mentioned about this on their blogs. However, it is really legit. I’ve transferred a few times now. All successful transactions. I’m transferring 100,000 yen at a fee of only 1 yen. Yes. Crazy right? It is the transfer fee between your local bank to their assigned bank (Mitsui Sumitomo) that is more expensive. A few hundred yen. You can also see the exchange rate at which the amount will be converted. No guessing game.
Not only is it cheap, it is also very secured. An sms will be sent to you and your recipient when it is completed. The initial account set-up may be a bit tedious but I felt more assured because of the extent in which the security process was done. The support team is also on the ball, answering my queries very promptly.
Feel free to email me, if you have any questions. Good stuff must share 😉
Nice! I’ll check it out the next time.