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In-Depth Furikomi Guide
Being able to make a money transfer (a furikomi) to other accounts or banks is an infrequently used but excellent skill to have. Making bank transfers is a convenient way to pay for goods or services from your ATM, and will be more useful than having a credit card in many cases. You might not have to make furikomi very often, but it is very useful if you decide to order from companies such as Amazon.co.jp or Rakuten.com. You may also need to do this occasionally for official reasons, such as pay for luggage shipping costs, or certain taxes or fees. You can also presumably pay bills this way, although it is usually easier to do that at a convenience store.
While important, it can be a long and frustrating process if you are unfamiliar with it. For your first time, even if you have some Japanese speaking and reading ability, I recommend asking for help from one of the people who work at the bank (sumimasen. furikomi wo oshiete-kudasai? yoroshiku onegaishimasu). You should certainly ask for help if you have established a GoLloyds account that you are using for the first time, and ask for a card before the end of the process (furikomi kaado wo tsukattemoiidesuka?)
To make a transfer, there are a few pieces of critical information that you will need to bring with you, in the order that you will be inputting it:
The amount of money you are sending (obviously) The name of the bank, in Kanji, and the first character in its name in katakana The name of the branch, in Kanji, and the first character in its name in katakana The account type (it will almost always be 普通口座, a regular account) The account number The account holder name (this is usually just for confirmation purposes, and is sometimes all in katakana)
For example:
1000円
北陸銀行 ホ(hokuriku ginkou, ho)
昭和通り支店 シ(shouwadorishiten, shi)
普通口座(regular account
99999999
If you don’t really speak Japanese or the kanji are unfamiliar, knowing the first katakana character of the bank and branch is pretty critical. You should look it up if you can, or ask for help if you can’t to make sure you have it right. It will save you a lot of time searching.
The below will be a guide specifically for doing a furikomi from Hokuriku Bank, the one with the red and white logo that most people will end up using. You may end up with a different institution, and in such a case, the process will differ slightly, in terms of what you need to input when. In that case, this is not the only guide for furikomi on the web, so search for one for your institution.
Sending a Furikomi
Begin at the home screen for the ATM. The home screen has 8 buttons in an uneven layout. The money transfer (hereafter furikomi) button is the one on the upper right hand that says 振込み.
One of two screens will pop up first. If it is after 3 pm, you will get a date confirmation screen. If you have a screen with a date displayed in the middle (looks like #月 ＃日), that is where you are. The date displayed will be the next business day (so try to get to the bank early on Friday, or you will be waiting for days). If you are OK with the date that is displayed, press the confirmation button, 確認 (kakunin), in the upper right hand corner. If you aren’t, press the big red 取消 in the upper left hand corner.
The next screen (or first screen if you are at the bank during normal hours) will give you two options. The top option is 現金 cash, and the bottom option is キャシュカード, your cash card/bank card. Select where you would like the money to come from. I personally keep very little cash on my person, so I usually use the cash card option, meaning the money is withdrawn from my account directly.
The next screen will be an overly dramatic warning, reminding you to have all your information ready and making you aware there is a processing charge. Hit 確認 to continue.
Place your card in the slot as normal, then enter your security code as normal.
If you selected cash (現金), then place your cash in the open slots as if it were a deposit. Press the 確認 button once it has counted all the money and it is at the correct amount for your transfer. Bear in mind this does not include the processing fee for the transfer itself. The fee will be added in the final stages, as it varies depending on where you are sending it.
If you selected cash card (キャシュカード), type in the amount of money in the same was as if you were making a normal withdrawal, pressing the 円 key. Press the 確認 button to confirm the amount. Again, bear in mind this does not include the processing fee for the transfer itself.
The next screen will ask you if you are using a pre-made money transfer card from a previous transfer, a 振込カード. If you have a card, press the top button, 振込カードあり. If you do not, press the bottom button, 振込カードなし. Since you will likely not have a card, you will probably press the bottom button.
If you have the card, then the process is very simple: insert the card and the machine will read all of your information for you. Skip forward in this guide to the paragraph beginning with a big X.
If you do not have a card, things get a little complicated, but with a little knowledge, it is actually quite easy. This is where all the recipient information comes in handy.
The first screen that will come up will be one asking what bank or institution you will be sending it to. If you are sending it to another Hokuriku member, then you can press the first button on the left. Other banks are listed, but most transfers out of the prefecture will be to completely different institutions. In that case, press the long button that takes up the entire second row, labelled その他の銀行 (other banks). Even if it is a bank in the prefecture, this button covers all available institutions, including Hokuriku itself.
This is where knowing the first katakana character of the bank you will be sending to comes in. The screen will display a katakana keyboard, and all you have to do is press the first character for the name of the bank. So, if you are sending it to an account with Mitsui bank, press the ミ key. Hokuriku bank, the ホ key.
This will bring up the next screen, which will be a list of banks that start with that katakana character. Search through the list and play a quick kanji matching game, finding the kanji that matches the information the payee has given you. Remember, if you have made a mistake and you do not see the bank that you need to send it to, you can press the red 訂正 button in the top center to go back one step.
The next step is very similar, where you select the bank branch. Press the correct katakana key for the first character in the branch name, and find the right kanji for the branch. A quick note about this: If the bank in question has a name that begins with any sh-, j- or ch- sound, choose the (what I am going to just call) the base sound. So, for sha, you would choose シ shi, for cho you would choose チ chi.
The next step will be what type of account you will be sending to. You have three options: 普通預金(normal account), 当座預金 (transactional account), and 貯蓄預金(high yield account). Select the type that the recipient indicates in their information.
The next screen will be where you input the account number. Enter the number of the account you are transferring to, and after you have entered it fully, hit 確認 again.
This is basically the last important screen. It will show you all of the information for the 受取人 recipient (including their name, which you usually are not asked to provide) on the top. It will also show you all of your pertinent information on the bottom. If everything matches up, press 確認 one final time and it will process your transfer. It may display a second time with a break down of the fees for the transfer, which will be added on top of the amount you are sending, and will come out of your account. Once you press 確認, you are committed to the transfer.
Unfortunately, because I have no one to just send money to at the moment, I cannot double check this final bit: You may be asked if you would like a receipt. If so, you will know this if you are given two choices, one in each corner. If you would like one, please press 必要. If not, please press 不要.
Also, if you did not use a pre-made furikomi card, it may ask if you want one. The options will be something like:
(yes options)..............(no options)
振込カードを作る............ 振込カードを作らない
必要...........................不要
はい.............................いいえ
(something)する.......(something) しない
If you think you are going to need to make the transaction frequently, then I recommend getting one (although there may be a slight charge). It is especially useful for bigger companies or for GoLloyds.
That is all there is too it. The important part is not being intimidated by the screens. If you are worried you are accidentally send money to the wrong account, or f things look wrong, always remember that there is the big red 取消 button that will give you everything back and cancel the whole process. Then, you can give it another swing.