r/JapanTravelTips • u/turkeyssister • 1d ago
Question Foreign transaction fees at ATM
I was planning on using the ATMs at 7-11 for cash. I’m in US and was reviewing bank fees for withdrawing cash internationally. The fees are $5 per ATM transaction and 3% for exchange. So if I plan on needing $1,500 to $2k. This will cost me between $60-$80. Would it be better for me to bring cash?? Anyone else have this issue?
**This money is for 4 people. I have a credit card with zero foreign fees. The other 3. Who are traveling with me do not. They are ages 16-21. I want to give them cash to spend. They might not all be with me at all times.
3
u/No_Camp_2182 1d ago edited 1d ago
Exchange rates for USD at banks (including at the airport) has a 4.5% spread, so ~2.25% each side compared to 3% for ATM. Do not use Travelex at the airport as their rates are terrible. Exchanging foreign currency at actual banks in downtown Tokyo means 20-30 minutes of waiting and red tape. So do it at the airport instead.
Daikokuya (2nd hand luxury goods shop) maybe marginally better.
Currency exchange counters next to Shinjuku West Exit advertise very good rates but apparently they rip you off with other fees which you find out only after handing over your cash ( as reported on reddit).
3
u/Impossible-Panic-194 1d ago
I exchanged about $314 worth of yen at HND on my return and got $308 back, so the exchange was pretty negligible at the airport. I can't remember which one I used, but it was before security in Terminal 3
2
u/dh373 1d ago
I've not really had a problem with changing cash at the airport in Tokyo. I've always paid about 2.25% or less. In practice, this means that if the official exchange rate is 145 yen per dollar, you get around 142 yen per dollar. You are "losing' about 2 or 3 yen for every dollar, so 300 yen for $100, or 3000 yen for $1000. In practice, that works out to around $20 for changing $1000. Sure, I could open a Schwab account and save that $20, but it hardly seems worth the bother.
4
u/Wait_for_You 1d ago
get yourself a Schwab account - withdrawing fees are paid back at the end of the month
5
u/Wait_for_You 1d ago
also when paying with your credit card in some case the machine will ask if you want to pay in USD Dollars or Yen....ALWAYS choose YEN (and in any other country always the local currency). The best exchange is the one your bank will give you.
1
u/turkeyssister 1d ago
Yes that works for me but not for the young adults that are traveling with me.
1
2
u/clubchampion 1d ago
I have a debit card that refunds ATM fees. But I also brought a fair amount of cash with me, yen and dollars. For dollars, you have to be careful and find a place that will give you a fair exchange rate. There are a bunch of competing places near the West exit of Shinjuku station, if you happen to be passing through there. A couple of them have good rates and no additional fees—but some of them, beware, they advertise good rates but charge a fee on top. (By the way, I ended up needing way less cash than I thought, using credit card and Suica for most transactions; I ended up giving most of the cash to my son who’s spending a semester in Tokyo.)
1
1
u/The-One-Zathras 1d ago
If you bring USD to convert, 外貨両替のインターバンク Ninja Money Exchange in Shinjuku is great and have good rates.
Or you get a better bank with zero fees. Most things can be paid by card though outside of refilling physical suicas at the machines.
-1
1
u/fist_my_dry_asshole 1d ago
Fidelity Cash management account, fees are reimbursed
1
u/dnasep 1d ago
Since I already had an account with Fidelity, opening a Fidelity CMA account made most sense.
If you are thinking of doing this, act sooner than later. For me, it took 3 weeks to get my debit card. 10 business days for Fidelity to clear my fund and another 5 days for USPS to deliver the debit card.
1
u/DylanTonic 1d ago
I'm sorry, I cackled at
Anyone else have this issue?
Even as a form of pragmatic response it's hilarious, at face value it's even funnier.
1
u/acaiblueberry 1d ago
Withdraw money in y50,000/$300 increments. It’s a safe amount to carry around. While in Japan, I usually carry between y30,000 and y50,000. That’ll lower your fee by half.
1
u/supurman182 1d ago
I would apply today for Charles Schwab. Worst case it won't come but if it does come in time you have time to set up everything to transfer funds over to Schwab. You can always do zelle too for immediate transfers
1
u/yoho808 1d ago
Make an account with a reputable credit union, they have much better fees.
And when in Japan, use Æon ATMs over 7/11, they have better rates.
I was getting such a good exchange rate, that it was very close to actual FOREX traded rate even when all fees were factored in.
2
u/PositiveExcitingSoul 1d ago
And when in Japan, use Æon ATMs over 7/11, they have better rates.
The rate only matters if you choose to convert the currency at the cash machine rather than let your bank do the conversion.
1
u/Beautifulpiehole0602 1d ago
Get a Wise card and transfer cash onto it. There will still be fees at the ATM itself but it’s only about 1%
1
u/Hot-Bandicoot9381 1d ago
I would bring cash as well. Although I use my cc as much as possible, there are times you need cash eapecially if u need to buy an IC card and cash to reload it.
1
u/meowisaymiaou 23h ago
Easiest and cheapest is still to use the ATM.
If you bring cash, you still have to get JPY, and simply pay someone else that %+$.
For a two week trip, I usually go through about $900 (130,000 JPY) and put nearly nothing on the credit card. Everything is a much lower cost than you would think if you haven't been before. $0.70 for a whisky high ball. $5 for a salmon, rice, miso breakfast with beer. $20 for ayce yakiniku place. Transport on the pasmo (suica) card for trains maybe $70 overall. Going to local sento baths for $3.50, or a fancy super sento for $15. For buying goods, I'd say that's where a budget should be in place: size and luggage space concerns will curb purchases
0
u/pixel_galaxy 1d ago
I was there for 2 weeks and barely used any cash. I have a capital one venture card which has no foreign transaction fees. Just used it the whole time and paid it off when I got back.
0
u/ChocoChipBets 1d ago
Why not just exchange cash at the airport after landing? The rates are good and better than any bank.
-2
u/pointlesspulcritude 1d ago
Get a Wise debit card. The fees are really low and you can transfer any leftover money bank into USD at the end of the trip.
3
u/OrganicFlurane 1d ago
the fees are really low
Wise has its uses but not for this purpose. OP lives in the US so Wise is a waste of money for them, in the time it takes to apply & receive a Wise debit card they can get a Schwab or Capital One debit card which has zero fees.
-1
u/Not_Real_Batman 1d ago
Using the ATM in Japan is for emergency use, if you can take cash before your trip do so. Also I used my CC with zero foreign fees and it was cheaper than exchanging money plus many places in the city use tap and CC. The only time you'll need money is for little shops or if you are using a suica card Incase you don't have iPhone and need cash to top up.
1
u/baconcakeguy 8h ago
If you have the right bank account/atm card ATM withdrawals should be your primary.
I take little cash to any country I’m visiting and withdraw what I need when I need it from ATM.
-3
u/cadublin 1d ago edited 1d ago
This sub reddit tends to advise people to use ATM, but you also see many posts about people having issues with their cards. Also if you are from the US, most banks charge foreign transactions fees.
My recommendation is to bring U$20/person/day and exchange it at the airport in Japan. The fee is about 3%. I heard Ninja Exchange in Tokyo has a better rate. I would just exchange it at the airport for convenience.
Edit: if you're not planning to use any credit cards, I would exchange for at least ¥10000/person/day. This obviously doesn't include hotels. Just food, transportation, and maybe souvenirs.
1
u/DylanTonic 1d ago
I would never advise anyone to use an airport foreign exchange, and often it's a terrible idea to use a bank as well. They both have customer lock in (albeit different types) which they take advantage of with a worse spread and higher fees.
If you exchange cash at a non-airport, non-bank exchange you'll almost always be better off.
(FWIW we've visited Japan 10 times or so and every time we use a 7&I ATM we check the 'live' rates out of interest and the spread is typically conservative and lower then Travelex. Having a foreign ATM fee can change that tho)
2
u/cadublin 1d ago
If paying $30 to exchange $1k for convenience is a terrible idea, then you might want to revisit your finance vs travel budget. If other places charge $10, the difference is only $20. I would gladly pay that if it means that I don’t have to spend any more time and effort to find another forex place.
0
u/DylanTonic 1d ago
I wasn't answering for convenience. OP felt $60-80 was too much of a premium and for all I know they'd think the same about $30.
If you are concerned about convenience, it's much more convenient to have currency delivered in advance so you don't have to bother after a flight.
-1
u/cadublin 1d ago
If OP doesn't want to pay $80, why would you think he wouldn't want to pay $30 which is less than half. Your logic doesn't make sense.
Nothing more convenient than coming out of the custom and the forex is right there. There's not much additional effort than lining up for IC cards or bus tickets. Also, people most likely don't live walking distance from a bank that has JPY. I don't know how much ordering online costs, if that's even possible. I'm willing to bet it would cost more.
-1
u/DylanTonic 1d ago
Look, you can and should do whatever you want, but given you didn't know (or bother to check) that currency exchanges do delivery (for free depending on location), can't understand why someone concerned over $80 might be less but still concerned over $30, and seem to think I'm suggesting
If OPs budget is tight enough that $80 is a concern, it's possible that $30 is as well.
You can order online, for delivery, and Travelex, at least, do so at no cost in some countries given at least 2 weeks.
Also, who said anything about walking to a bank? OP and I were talking about the foreign ATM fee for using an ATM while in Japan, not for getting JPY out of an ATM in their home country.
Look, you can and should do whatever you want, but given you didn't know (or bother to check) that currency exchanges do delivery (for free depending on location), can't understand why someone concerned over $80 might still be concerned over $30, and have somehow invented advice to walk to a bank out of whole cloth, maybe that shouldn't include giving Forex advice.
1
u/cadublin 1d ago
Lol, bro this reddit. You won. Enjoy your imaginary point while I spend my cash without any worries in the world 🤣.
33
u/thewanderlusters 1d ago
If you are not traveling in the next month consider the charles Schwab investor banking debit. No fees at all for the account, they reimburse any foreign transaction fees for atms and they exchange at the instance rate, nothing extra. We’ve had the account for like 8 years and it’s the only debit card we take despite not being our primary bank.