Banking and Other Ubiquities

I am currently waiting for my very delicious chicken pot pie to finish baking; having just spent the past thirty minutes drinking iced tea and pretending to be a pirate (not really), I thought I could perhaps spare a moment to post another blog entry.

Lately, I've been trying to figure out what to do about banking while I am in Japan. Currently I have a Capital One checking account and a Bank of America student checking account (and as of roughly two hours ago, I have a Citibank student checking account in the process of being created).

It was recommended to me that Citibank is the best bank to use in Japan, since it actually has branches in Japan and has a partnership with 7/11. However, apparently this is negligent as regardless of where I withdraw money, all withdrawals still incur a 3% charge (I am not sure if this is in addition to ATM fees).

This means that for example if I go to a Citibank Japan branch, I will still be charged 3% (this is supposed to change in the future, but whatever); the reason for this is that Citibank Japan does not have access to my US Citibank info -- I sense an Information Systems opportunity here. Citibank does have 24 hour customer service though, which my Citibank representative was very insistent on pointing out to me.

On the other hand, Capital One does not charge for ATM withdrawals; there is also no fee for withdrawing in Yen from my US checking account. However, I'd still end up paying the ATM usage-fee.

I haven't looked in to/most likely won't bother looking in to Bank of America and Chase (which has branches in Japan too). In fact, I'll probably close my Bank of America account, because as nice as their ATMs are, Citibank has better student benefits.

Note: A helpful reminder here, to future people studying abroad: don't forget to tell your bank your international itinerary -- otherwise your card won't work abroad.

Anyways, in perhaps more interesting news, I've been keeping in touch with my host family. There was some confusion on my part as to whether or not I was to meet my host family at the airport or use the student pick-up service that Waseda offers. After a series of some rather awkward emails, it seems to be that I am meeting my host mother at the airport when I arrive.