My departure day to Japan is just around the corner.
I don’t want to travel with lots of cash in my pocket. I am planning to use a credit card whenever I can. I want to withdraw cash on an as-needed basis. Thus, I’ve been researching the best way to withdraw cash in Japan.
I asked this question to my bank through an online chat. A female agent answered my chat.
I learned from her that in case of withdrawing cash through a debit card from an ATM in Japan, the bank charges 1% transaction fee. She recommended me to use a credit card instead of a debit card. She said the bank waives the 1% transaction fee in case of withdrawing cash through a credit card.
I never thought of using a credit card at an ATM. In fact, I didn’t know we can use a credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM.
After I ended the chat with her, for some reasons, my gut feeling suggested me to ask another agent to make sure about using a credit card. I could not fully believe what the female agent recommended.
***
I asked the same question through an online chat again. This time the male agent received my question.
This male agent wrote his chatting with a whole bunch of typos. He used lots of abbreviations and omitted words. Maybe it was normal for him, but it was hard for me to quickly understand what he wrote.
Anyways, he told me totally opposite from the first agent.
He said, if he were in my position, he would bring US dollar cash and exchange it to Japanese yen at the airport. He recommended me not to use a credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. It will cost much more than I can expect. We chatted for a while, but he never explained the clear reasons for his recommendations.
For some reasons though, my gut feeling urged me to take his advice, rather than the first female’s advice.
***
I mentioned about my chatting experience to my husband. He suggested me to try one more person.
So, I did. My husband was right. The third person did a great job to clear my questions.
***
On my third chat conversation, a male agent picked up my question.
He recommended me not to use a credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM machine in Japan.
When withdrawing cash from an ATM in Japan;
– It is considered as “advanced cash.”
– Although the bank waves 1% transaction fee, it charges 3% advance fee instead.
– APY (the interest rate) of 15.50% will be imposed to my credit card account daily until it is paid off.
– I will need to pay for the service fee charged by the ATM owner. The service fee amount varies to the ATM owner. Some people posted they were charged $5 for the service fee.
***
I am so glad to know this in advance. I will follow the third agent’s advice.
I will not use a credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. If needed, I will use a debit card instead.
♬ Any feedback? (^^♪
three wisdom 