Sony Bank: a Japanese online bank with English-language service for foreign residents

The account is held by ソニー銀行株式会社 (Sony Bank), a Japanese online bank. It appears on the list of licensed banks published by the Financial Services Agency (FSA), as of 24 September 2026, among the "other" banks under the direct supervision of the FSA, with its corporate number and its address in Tokyo. We classify it among licensed banks (licensed-bank).

Sony Bank publishes a page on the protection of yen deposits, which refers to the Japanese deposit insurance system.

The "English Online Banking" service, launched on 30 March 2020, is aimed at foreign residents of Japan. On its current page on required documents, the bank distinguishes three situations, depending on whether at least figure being updated have elapsed since the permission date shown on the residence card, since the effective date of the health insurance card, or neither. In the latter case, an employees' health insurance card and proof of employment with a company in Japan must be presented. The application is made through an account-opening app.

For a newly arrived expatriate, opening an account is therefore easier if they are employed by a company in Japan; a self-employed person or someone without a job must in principle wait until their residence status or health insurance coverage has the required length of standing. Non-residents are not targeted.

The detailed list of documents for each of the first two situations, the minimum age and what happens to the account if you leave Japan do not appear on the page that was read. The bank's notice on the verification of length and status of residence could not be read.

The Sony Bank WALLET card is an international cash card with a Visa debit function. The launch presentation mentioned withdrawals in yen and ten foreign currencies: US dollar, euro, pound sterling, Australian, Canadian, Hong Kong and New Zealand dollars, Swiss franc, South African rand and Swedish krona.

Withdrawal, foreign exchange and international transfer fees are not reproduced here: they come from a secondary source.

In Japan, deposit insurance protects, per person and per institution, the principal up to up to ¥10,000,000¹ and the corresponding interest on eligible deposits, according to the Financial Services Agency. Foreign-currency deposits are excluded from protection: at Sony Bank, only the yen portion is therefore covered.

• How long ago the residence status or health insurance coverage began, which determines the documents required.
• The exclusion of foreign-currency deposits from Japanese deposit insurance.
• How the bank monitors length of residence and what happens to the account if you leave Japan.
• Reporting obligations linked to your tax residence: a French tax resident must declare each year accounts opened, held, used or closed outside France, including those with online banks and payment wallets; other countries impose comparable obligations.