Banking with Routing #s

[Big Booger]

hello Fucked peoples...

Quick question on banking.. I am looking at starting up an online savings account outside of Japan. I am keen on an account with ING direct (US) and/or HSBC...

http://www.ingdirect.com/osa_work/

But in order to open an account with ING or most of the other online savings/banking options i have to have an existing US checking account... however, I don't want to open a US checking account (too many fees, I'd have to take a trip back to the US etc...)

So I was wondering if any of you know of a way to open an ING direct account with a Japanese bank account?

That or any other company that offers a 4-5% rate of return on savings with no fees, no minimums etc... (I'm not out for risk... regardless of rate or return just yet) A 4-5% return on savings suits me just fine.

I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions you might have concerning this.

[Big Booger]

I'd also like to know about routing numbers and so on to help make online payments for mortgages and loans held in the US.

If you have knowledge about routing numbers or pay by checking with a Japanese bank account, I'd be keen to hear it.

[FG Lurker]

If you are looking for decent savings rates I would check out Shinsei:
http://www.shinseibank.com/english/powerflex/powertrial/index.html

I haven't done it so I am not sure what sorts of catches there might be. Be careful of exchange rates, the US$ is quite high right now.

As for doing e-checks etc from a Japanese account to cover mortgages in the US, I don't think this is possible. You might want to talk to Citibank Japan to see what they say.

If you do end up opening a US-based checking account you can do this on Guam. If you leave on a Thursday night you can open the account on Friday morning, relax for the weekend, and come back Sunday night. Be sure you contact the banks in advance to make appointments and find out exactly what you need to bring! Tell them your citizenship and current country of residence. It would really suck to fly there and not be able to open the account.

[Big Booger]

That Guam trip sounds like a plan stan. I should have thought about that. I really would love to be able to transfer directly from my bank account in Japan though.

I was thinking perhaps they had routing numbers and so on that could be used for "check over the phone" or "direct deposit" payment methods.

I am tired of having to go to the post office and blow 6000円 on post office charges and then being slapped with another fee for sending certified and yet another fee when the mortgage company receives it...

I figured a direct deposit would not only allow me to trim the fat but also reduce the amount of effort i have to put in paying for bills.

shinsei sounds like plan but I am curious about:

*Interests stated above are before tax basis and they are subject to 20% separate withholding tax.

And they charge a fee to exchange currency (albeit it's rather miniscule)

But it's in the "noteworthy" category.

[Kuang_Grade]

I've half looked at ING myself, since they offer rather good interest rates if you got some big coin sitting around (4.5% or so on deposits over $10K), but since I have very little coin, I haven't really looked into it that hard. I suspect the required US checking account at another bank is a part of the low cost business strategy....I don't know if they actually have any real world branches and they just do business over the phone and online and the easiest and cheapest way for them to get and transfer out money is via interbank transfers.

[FG Lurker]

[Charles]

I've half looked at ING myself, since they offer rather good interest rates if you got some big coin sitting around (4.5% or so on deposits over $10K), but since I have very little coin, I haven't really looked into it that hard.

I looked at ING and HSBC and the user reports say it's easy to get in and you get good interest, but it's a bit hard to get your money out when you need it. I have some savings that I could use to pay off my student loans (currently at 4.25%) and I figured I could park the money in HSBC or ING at 4.5% and eke out a 0.25% interest advantage over the long term. But it seems impossible to get these companies to set up a monthly automatic payment on my student loan account, and if you miss one payment, they kick your interest up 0.25% and that would defeat the whole purpose.
These days, the conventional wisdom is to set up laddered CDs which are usually 5.0% or better (and oddly, they're "underwater" which means short term CDs have better interest rates than longer terms). But this would be difficult to set up from overseas. Perhaps anyone needing assistance with international financial transactions could profit from the solicitations I get via email from the Nigerian National Bank of Lagos.

[Big Booger]

I may just set up a bank account in America when I return this summer. And then fill it with funds via paypal. Then use the bank account to send payment via automatic draft or something similar.

I will then set up an ING or HSBC account for savings (I don't want to be able to readily take the funds out of my savings as it will be for a longer term rather than shorter one.)

I guess with a US bank account it will be easier to setup a Roth IRA and so on as well..... I just wanted to avoid doing that if Japanese banks allowed me to handle the type of transactions I was seeking.

[FG Lurker]

I may just set up a bank account in America when I return this summer. And then fill it with funds via paypal.

Using PayPal to send anything except small amounts of money is not a good idea.

One reason is that their exchange rates are horrible. 2% to 2.5% lower than a bank rate! Might be 3% worse than Lloyds' rate.

Another reason is that PayPal is meant for payments, not for moving money. If they see you moving money with it they may flag your account as suspicious and freeze the funds. You then have a nightmare on your hands as you have to try to get PayPal to unfreeze the account. This can take months!

Finally, there are all sorts of security issues with PayPal. It is not a good idea to tie a bank account to PayPal unless you keep no money in the account.

[Big Booger]

I hear all that, and their exchange rates are wack... mostly I won't be moving large sums. I want to be using a drip savings method.. drip drip drip... damn that made one hell of a drop sort of deal.

I've also thought about wire transfers from the postal service like I do now. Though instead of 5 or 6 different transfers each racking up 2000yen bills, I'd do one large transfer to my US-based bank and let the US based bank make the payments.

Still debating what to do precisely.

[FG Lurker]

I hear all that, and their exchange rates are wack... mostly I won't be moving large sums. I want to be using a drip savings method.. drip drip drip... damn that made one hell of a drop sort of deal.

The best way to save is to do it as soon as you get paid. Decide what you are going to save every month and then wire that home before you start paying other bills. Then you have no choice but to find a way to get through the month on the remaining amount.

If you save at the end of the pay period the amount will always be smaller and often nothing at all... It's amazing how fast money can disappear.

[Big Booger]

Yeah but what if you can't make it all meet up in the end... (get busted for prostitution and have to pad some Office Patty O' Furniture's pocket.)

[FG Lurker]

Yeah but what if you can't make it all meet up in the end... (get busted for prostitution and have to pad some Office Patty O' Furniture's pocket.)

You'll always make it meet as long as you don't set your savings goals too high. Start with something modest and then move it up a bit as you can.

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

What sort of access do you need?
I'm sending off money to the Isle of Man every month for retirement, but it could be taken out at any time after the first two years. Money is taken out through my Visa card and held in Yen (my own choice, could be converted to any currency). To me it's a set amount I don't see so I don't miss it. 8-10% low medium risk.

[Mulboyne]

8-10% low medium risk.

I might not be reading you correctly, but if that means you are earning 8-10% annually on a yen investment then I have to wonder if it really is "low-medium risk".

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

It's not a Yen investment as such and I don't change to/from Yen, but the fund is International. So my levels of Investment/Saving is the same month in - month out, but my contributions as far as the fund is concered is up and down.
As I have no need in the near-mid future to change to other currencies this seemed the best way for me.

[Mulboyne]

It's not a Yen investment as such and I don't change to/from Yen, but the fund is International.

Oh, I get it. The fund is denominated in yen but the underlying investments are non-yen. That makes more sense.