Incoming foreign currency remittance

1. Main Features

No fees from Sony Bank

Sony Bank doesn't charge you any fees for incoming remittances regardless of the amount and the number of times you receive foreign currency remittances.

Other banks involved in the remittance (such as intermediary banks, etc.) may charge fees before the funds arrive in your account.

11 currencies available

With Sony Bank, you can receive incoming foreign currency remittances in these 11 currencies: Yen, US Dollar, Euro, British Pound, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Swiss Franc, Hong Kong Dollar, South African Rand, and Swedish Krona.

Remittances made in Chinese Yuan (CNH) and Brazilian Real cannot be received by Sony Bank.

Use foreign currency with Sony Bank WALLET

With Sony Bank WALLET, you can shop in foreign currency in and outside Japan, as well as make withdrawals in the local currency at overseas ATMs directly from your foreign currency savings account. For more information, check Sony Bank WALLET.

2. Details

Who can use this service?

You can receive foreign currency remittances if you are an individual customer, resident of Japan, and have an account at Sony Bank.

• If you are under the age of 15, you cannot receive foreign currencies, but you can receive yen from banks outside Japan.
• If you're not living in Japan, you cannot use this service.

What kind of remittances can be received?

You can receive remittances of non-business funds such as living expenses, travel expenses, school expenses, product purchase expenses, etc.

What kind of remittances cannot be received?

In some cases, Sony Bank can't accept a received remittance, such as if:

• The remittance is business related.

  The remittance is deemed to be business related (*) based on Sony Bank's verification criteria.

  Refers to things such as sales, working capital and funds for business investment associated with ongoing production, sales or services provided by the customer, regardless of whether the customer is a corporation or an individual.

• The remitter is your acquaintance or friend (to which you can't prove a relationship publicly).
• The beneficiaries are casino operator, etc.
• The beneficiaries are overseas FX brokers, etc. not registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
• The destination of the incoming foreign currency remittance is for the third party recipient.
• The remittance is received from a country or region that is uncooperative in anti-money laundering measures (countries and regions identified by FATF as having serious flaws in money laundering and terrorist financing measures, such as Syria and Yemen).
• Transactions where the remitter is a Funds Transfer Service Provider.
  A Funds Transfer Service Provider is someone other than a deposit-taking financial institution, such as a bank, etc., that is primarily engaged in the exchange transaction business.
• Transactions where the actual situation is unknown, such as when an actual remitter exists separately.
  For example, remittances using a bank account other than the customer's own, or a "consolidated remittance" made by several individuals, etc.
• The purpose of remittance declared by the remitting bank is different from the purpose of remittance selected by you.

Compliance with the "Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act"

The Ministry of Finance has issued a document regarding restrictions on remittances under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act. Please check the Ministry of Finance website for details.

3. Receiving a foreign currency remittance

There are six main phases Sony Bank goes through for a foreign currency remittance from other banks:

• Phase 1: Remittance from the remitting bank
• Phase 2: Processing by the intermediary bank
• Phase 3: Funds arrive at Sony Bank
• Phase 4: Confirmation of the received remitted funds
• Phase 5: Content verification
• Phase 6: Deposit into your account

Phase 1: Remittance from remitting bank

At the bank from which the foreign currency remittance is sent, the remitter will need to fill out the following remittance information.

Accepted currencies

Sony Bank can only accept incoming Telegraphic remittances in Japanese Yen (JPY), US Dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), British Pound (GBP), Australian Dollar (AUD), New Zealand Dollar (NZD), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Swiss Franc (CHF), Hong Kong Dollar (HKD), South African Rand (ZAR), and Swedish Krona (SEK).

Beneficiary details

For the remitter to be able to remit funds into your Sony Bank account, please share your account information.

Beneficiary's name

Your name (as registered with Sony Bank)

Beneficiary's address

Your address (as registered with Sony Bank)

Beneficiary's bank name

Sony Bank Incorporated, Tokyo

Beneficiary's bank SWIFT code

SNYBJPJT

Sony Bank doesn't have IBAN, ABA or Routing Number.

Beneficiary's bank branch

Head Office

Beneficiary's bank address

2-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Beneficiary's account number

001-XXXXXXX

The account number is a 7-digit number that follows the branch number (001) on the front or back of your cash card.

The account number is the same as your Yen savings account, and not the 16-digit Visa number on your Sony Bank WALLET.

Intermediary bank details

In order to receive foreign currency remittances to your Sony Bank account, an intermediary bank needs to be specified. The remitter can choose one of the following intermediary banks, depending on the currency of the remitting bank.

Phase 2: Processing by the intermediary bank

The foreign currency remittance will be processed through the intermediary bank that was specified. The intermediary bank may charge additional fees.

Phase 3: Funds arrive at Sony Bank

Once the funds arrive at Sony Bank, you will receive a notification by email.

The time it takes for the fund to arrive at Sony Bank depends on the remitting bank and when the remittance was made. If the foreign currency remittance was sent from a bank in Japan, it might arrive the same day or up 2 business days later. If sent from overseas, it might take 3 - 4 business days or more.

Sony Bank can't provide information about the status of incoming foreign currency remittances before the funds have arrived. Please inquire with the remitter or the remitting bank.

Phase 4: Confirmation of the received remitted funds

After the remitted funds have arrived at Sony Bank, you'll need to complete the following steps in order to have the funds deposited into your account.

Step 1: Register your "My Number"

If you have received a foreign currency remittance from a remitting bank outside Japan, Sony Bank requires you to register your "My Number". If you haven't registered your "My Number" with Sony Bank yet, please do so.

How to register your "My Number"

1. Sign in to our Online banking
2. Select Settings from Menu
3. Scroll down to Submit "My Number" (Notification of Individual Number) select Submit
4. Follow the instructions on the screen

• If the foreign currency remittance is sent from a remitting bank in Japan, you don't need to submit your "My Number".
• For more information about "My Number" and how to get it, please check the website of The Japan Agency for Local Authority Information Systems.

Step 2: Select the remittance you want to confirm

You will need to navigate to the remittance you want to have deposited into your account.

How to select a remittance

1. Sign in to our Online banking
2. Select Foreign currency remittance from Menu
3. In this section Incoming foreign currency remittance select Receive
4. Select Confirm to Receive on the remittance you want to receive

Step 3: Open a foreign currency account

To have the incoming foreign currency remittances deposited into your account, you will need to have a Foreign currency savings account in the same currency as the received remittance. If you don't have an account in that currency you will be required to open one.

• You may skip this step if you either have Foreign currency savings account in the required currency or have received a remittance in Yen from a remitting bank overseas.
• Foreign currency savings deposits are only available to customers above the age of 15. Customers younger than 15 of age can't receive foreign currency, but it is possible to receive remittances in Yen from remitting banks overseas.

Step 4: Specify relationship and purpose

Please follow the instructions on the screen to enter the necessary information about the remittance such as "Relationship to the remitter" and "Purpose of remittance". Then select Next.

Step 5: Confirm the remittance details

Confirm all entered information and input the requested passwords and PINs. The "Incoming Foreign Currency Remittance - Complete" message on your screen indicates that the procedure to receive the foreign currency remittance has been completed. You can then close the page.

Phase 5: Content verification

After you have confirmed the received remittance, Sony Bank will verify the content.

You may need to submit additional documents for verification. In this instance, Sony Bank will send you further instructions to your registered email address. For more details on the documents needed, please refer to Verification at the time of remittance.

Phase 6: Deposit into your account

After remittance details have been verified and the received remittance has been approved by Sony Bank, the funds will be deposited into your account in approximately 2 - 5 business days.

The time taken for the funds to be deposited into your account varies depending on details that need to be verified and may take longer in some cases.

4. Checking the status of received remittances

The status of a received remittance will be updated after verification is completed by Sony Bank, and after the funds was deposited into your account.

Incoming foreign currency remittances have two possible statuses.

In Progress

Sony Bank is currently in the process of verifying the received remittance details.

Deposit completed

The received remittance was approved. Sony Bank has deposited the funds into your account.

How to check the received remittance status

1. Sign in to our Online banking
2. Select Foreign currency remittance from Menu
3. In this section Incoming foreign currency remittance select Transaction History
4. The history page will display a list of received remittances
5. You can check the status of each remittance
6. For more information, select Details

5. Verification at the time of remittance

Sony Bank is strengthening its measures against money laundering and terrorist financing. In regards to the use of foreign currency remittance services, we are tightening our verification process at time of pre-registration and remittance execution in an effort to more appropriately and strictly comply with Japan's Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law ("Foreign Exchange Law") and other related legislation. In light of this, we may need to confirm additional details of remittances during both pre-registration and/or remittance execution stages.

This additional verification may take several days, so please ensure you allow plenty of time for processing your transaction. In addition, we reserve the right to refuse the transaction depending on screening results. We ask for your kind understanding and cooperation.

We ask for your cooperation in the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, which is an act of hiding criminal-related funds. ("AML/CFT")

The information you register when confirming a received remittance shall be verified based on Sony Bank's prescribed methods at the time of remittance. In principle, every time remitted funds arrive, Sony Bank will verify the remittance details based on our method.

During the verification process, you may be asked to submit documents that can confirm the purpose of remittance, remittance details, and relationship to the remitter.

The remitted funds will be deposited into your account after verification by Sony Bank.

• Sony Bank shall conduct verify the details of received remittances based on our method whenever money arrives, in accordance with the Act on Prevention of remittance of Criminal Proceeds ("Criminal Proceeds Act"), the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act ("Foreign Exchange Act"), and other relevant laws and regulations for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing.
• Even if you have received a foreign currency remittance from the same remitter before, Sony Bank needs to verify the details each time a foreign currency remittance is received.
• Depending on the results of the verification process, Sony Bank may return the funds to the remitter's bank without depositing them into your account.
• The time taken to deposit the remittance into your account varies depending on the details that need to be verified and might take longer in some cases.
• In the case the verification can't be completed within one month because documents requested by Sony Bank haven't been submitted, Sony Bank may return the funds to the remitting bank without depositing them into your account.
• Sony Bank cannot disclose the details of the prescribed verification criteria to avoid unauthorized verification.

• Video introduction of "Foreign Currency Remittance Verification"
• Text version of "Foreign Currency Remittance Verification"

Documents to be submitted

Sony Bank will contact you by email in case you need to submit documents in order for us to verify your remittance. Please follow the instructions in the email and prepare the necessary documents according to the details and purpose of the received remittance. You can submit your additional documents as an email attachment or by postal mail.

Confirmation documents for remittance

Confirmation of relationship to the remitter

In the case the remitter is not yourself, you will need to provide documents that can confirm your relationship to the remitter.

Confirmation documents for purposes of remittance