Karen in CO Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Since my ds graduated in June and obtained his Japanese residency card, we've been trying to sort out an easy way for him to pay his student loans. He has a Japanese bank account and an American bank account. He generally cashes his paychecks and uses cash for his bills. When money was flowing from here to there, it was simple for me to deposit money in his account and have him use an ATM to withdraw it. How does one go about sending money the other way without having to do an international wire transfer? He can't be the first person to have an overseas job and US student loans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 It is the same way reverse. He puts in money in Japan to his US account using ATM/bank, then set it up to pay his US student loans. The exchange rate may not be good but he won't be hit with the wire transfer fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 It is the same way reverse. He puts in money in Japan to his US account using ATM/bank, then set it up to pay his US student loans. The exchange rate may not be good but he won't be hit with the wire transfer fee. Anybody in Tokyo who can teach my ds how to deposit money in an ATM? I have suggested this to him several times, but he hasn't yet tried. Apparently there aren't any ATM's between his apartment and his work. Sometimes he is amazingly mature, and other times.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 You say he has a Japanese acct. So is he going in the bank and cashing his paycheck? Then he should leave some money in the acct and only take part of it as cash for his bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Um_2_4 Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 We have a US bank acct and MIL withdraws money from there using an ATM card, but she could NOT deposit money into that US acct from there. I assume he is "cashing" his paycheck using his Japanese bank acct, right? If he deposited money into that Japanese account, he might be able to get YOU an ATM card for that account and then you withdraw it from an ATM in the USA and then you pay his bills for him. (If the Japanese bank would allow that, and be sure to ask about fees he might incur). Besides sending you a wire transfer, western union would be another option. US govt tightly regulates any money coming into the US banking system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamolina Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I live overseas and have student loan payments. I put money in a US bank account and set it up for the payments to come out automatically so I didn't have to mess with it every month. Much easier and one less thing for me to have to think of every month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Um_2_4 Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Also, keep in mind, I"m not sure what $$ amount you are talking about each month, but look at the fees and be sure to calculate how to get the most bang for your buck. We used to send to MIL each month, but discovered we could save it up and send every 3 months a larger $ amount for just a dollar or 2 more. No need to keep paying that fee monthly, if that makes sense... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 but she could NOT deposit money into that US acct from there. Okay - maybe he isn't being dense. I'll encourage him to see about getting me an ATM for his Japanese account before he comes home next month. Otherwise, I'll get him to find a western union. He does go to the bank to cash his checks. He had to have a Japanese bank account before he could get a job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 I live overseas and have student loan payments. I put money in a US bank account and set it up for the payments to come out automatically so I didn't have to mess with it every month. Much easier and one less thing for me to have to think of every month. How do you get the money into your US account? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Has he asked in an ex pat forum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamolina Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 We added our father in law as an official user of the account, so we can send him a check or we can have money automatically deposited into the account. Is there possibly a bank he could use in Japan that also has a US branch? Our situation may be a little different in that we get paid in the US and then have to figure out how to get it to us, he has the opposite problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Bank to bank transfer or Use a Japanese credit card to pay his US bill... Either way there are going to be charges. I guess he can research to see what will be a cheaper way to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Can he use his Japanese credit card to pay his US bills? What about online money transfer with a service like Xoom? We use it US to Europe; you may want to check out whether it can also transfer from somewhere else TO the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Anybody in Tokyo who can teach my ds how to deposit money in an ATM? I have suggested this to him several times, but he hasn't yet tried. Apparently there aren't any ATM's between his apartment and his work. Sometimes he is amazingly mature, and other times.... Is there a Citibank branch near to either his apartment or work? What we did when we are home in Asia is to go to Citibank and just dump the cash into our US Citibank account. No admin fee and the exchange rate was not too bad. Usually the ATMs (in general) are very near the train stations for Tokyo. Another way is to find out the cost to transfer money from his Japan bank account to the US bank account. I was thinking he could get an account at Bank of Tokyo but there is no branch in Colorado so won't be convenient for you to draw out cash. Wire transfer cost me $20 from Citibank to a non-Citibank internationally so it was not costly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I live overseas and have student loan payments. I put money in a US bank account and set it up for the payments to come out automatically so I didn't have to mess with it every month. Much easier and one less thing for me to have to think of every month. When we lived in Germany, dh's pay automatically deposited into our American account. We set up an automatic payment to our German bank account in order to pay certain bills (like the phone). It would be easiest if he got an account with an American bank with branches in Japan and asked them there the easiest way to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 They are very advanced, with the use of technology in Japan. Even more so than here in Colombia. From the USA to Colombia, an International Wire Transfer would probably cost $25 to $50, depending on where in the USA the bank is. From Colombia to the USA, I suspect they would charge about the same. Probably the same between the USA and Japan for a Wire Transfer. Whether paying that fee is worth it, depends upon how much money one is transferring. If it is only a few hundred dollars, and your DS has an account in a bank in Japan that can issue him an ATM card valid on the PLUS or CIRRUS ATM networks, that would be the best way to go, IMHO. The ATM machines normally give an excellent exchange rate. Then, he could send the ATM card to you, via FedEx. Our bank in Colombia, and others than I am in from time to time, have easy ways for people in the USA to deposit money in the account of someone here in Colombia. Possibly his bank in Japan has a way for him to "direct deposit" money into a bank account in the USA. There are very strict U.S. laws, regarding international money transfers. Here, there are ATM machines everywhere. Supermarkets, etc. GL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diplomum Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Can he set up Paypal on his Japanese account? If he can, then he can send you funds to your Paypal account, which you can transfer to your bank account and then pay his student loan for him. The fee for doing this is very minimal (free?) and much cheaper than a wire transfer. The exchange rate is usually very favourable. This is how I send money for birthdays etc. to my British and other overseas relatives from my US account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 @OP: Follow on... PayPal is another possibility. Depending on the PayPal regulations, for customers in Japan, he might be able to transfer money to you, from a PayPal Japan account, to your PayPal USA account. Assuming that he is a U.S. Citizen, if he hasn't already registered with the ACS (American CItizen Services) in the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, he needs to do that, ASAP. He can probably do that on their web site. Also, he should be aware of U.S. Income Tax reporting requirements. Americans are taxed on our Citizenship, and not on where we live. So, he will need to file a U.S. Income Tax return. I do that with the TaxACT software. This is the web site of American Citizens Abroad: http://americansabroad.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 not sure if it is just where my DH was in Japan, but he was in transit there 2 years ago and said he didn't see a ATM anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReader Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 We've found the easiest & cheapest way to pay bills, including our US Student Loans, to be with our foreign credit/debit card. All our student loans allow this, though some we have to call and pay vs. paying on-line. If he is able to leave enough money in his local account to cover his student loans, this would be the easiest thing; just takes a phone call to the student loan company. His bank will likely still charge a foreign transaction fee but usually that is much less than the transfer fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 We've found the easiest & cheapest way to pay bills, including our US Student Loans, to be with our foreign credit/debit card. All our student loans allow this, though some we have to call and pay vs. paying on-line. If he is able to leave enough money in his local account to cover his student loans, this would be the easiest thing; just takes a phone call to the student loan company. His bank will likely still charge a foreign transaction fee but usually that is much less than the transfer fee. Yes! I pay some things in the USA, including TaxACT, and Skype, with the Debit card issued by our bank in Colombia... About calling the USA. Using Skype, one can call phone numbers that are toll free (within the USA) FREE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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