Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin

Re:Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin by xedarius on Monday September 26, 2016 @05:15AM (#12580387)

A friend of mine who lives in Tokyo told me that in Japan it's near impossible to transfer money from one bank to another. He told me the way Japanese people transfer money between banks was to draw the cash out in one and pay it in to another. I'm prepared to be corrected if this tale isn't true.

However, with this in mind, it seems like quite a leap from a non-electronic intra-bank system to Bitcoin. On the other hand, it may be the poor banking system that's created this.

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Re:Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin by patio11 on Monday September 26, 2016 @10:31AM (#12582100)

A friend of mine who lives in Tokyo told me that in Japan it's near impossible to transfer money from one bank to another

Go to any of your bank's ATMs with your ATM card and/or passbook. Select 振込. Input amount. You will be asked the bank, bank branch, and 7 digit account number of the person you are sending it to. You will then be (typically) shown a screen which shows you the fee (100 to about 500 yen depending on bank and size of transaction) and lets you adjust your telephone number or name if required for the convenience of the firm receiving your payment. Hit OK. If done within banking hours, the payment is effectively instantaneous. If you cannot follow these instructions, you can ask a teller to assist.

If you're doing the transfers between your own accounts and they're at different institutions then one will occasionally see people withdraw to cash and then immediately redeposit in a second account, to save the ~300 yen or whatever.

In related news, Japan is a major Western country and banks do not communicate via couriers and smoke signals, contrary to impressions your friend may have.

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Re:Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin by lmm on Monday September 26, 2016 @11:22AM (#12582568)

> Japan is a major Western country

Um...

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Re:Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin by mguillemot on Monday September 26, 2016 @05:21AM (#12580414)

In my experience (10 years living in Japan) it's actually extremely easy to do bank transfers, so easy that actually many people use bank transfer to pay for online purchases. It does cost a bit though (from ~100 to ~600 Yens depending on the amount, time of day, and size of banks involved), and the sender has to pay that amount, not the receiver. That makes it an even bigger incentive for sellers to accept this way of payment.

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Re:Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin by dennist on Monday September 26, 2016 @05:34AM (#12580457)

I wouldn't say near impossible but I think it's definitely much more inconvenient than in other countries. Just the other day I had to move some money between my bank accounts and did exactly that with the ATMs. Because online banking here is a atrocious and I didn't want to deal with any transfer fees.

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Re:Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin by juliango on Monday September 26, 2016 @05:22AM (#12580420)

Well as you suspected that is not true. Maybe your friend doesn't understand his bank interface? If anything the Japanese use bank transfer(furikomi) more than in the west because credit cards are less used.

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Re:Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin by Symbiote on Monday September 26, 2016 @06:19AM (#12580620)

Remember "the West" includes the Nordic countries, Germany, and other parts of Europe where credit cards are less common and bank transfers are free. At least in Scandinavia, the app-based bank transfer methods are widely used to pay for purchases or to repay friends.

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Re:Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin by TorKlingberg on Monday September 26, 2016 @05:48AM (#12580507)

I don't know about transfer between banks, but I do remember that when I left Japan in 2007 I withdrew all my money in cash, walked to the post office, and sent it to my Swedish bank. That saved me several days and a whole lot of transfer fees.

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Re:Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin by ekianjo on Monday September 26, 2016 @05:29AM (#12580440)

False. Its easy to do bank transfers but you have to pay fees even for domestic transfers.

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