FX Fee Comparison: How to Calculate the Real Cost
An FX fee comparison reveals the true all-in cost of moving money across borders, not just the headline fee.1 Get the three cost components right and you can rank any two tools in about ten minutes using live quotes.
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the fee page of the bank or operator you plan to use and the Financial Services Agency fund-transfer guidance.
Overview
True all-in cost is the sum of three parts: the explicit transfer fee, the FX spread between the offered rate and the mid-market rate, and any intermediary bank deduction on SWIFT-routed transfers.2 SMBC Trust Bank publishes exactly this three-part structure: a transfer fee to the bank, a foreign exchange fee embedded in the TTS rate, and bank-concerned charges deducted from the remittance amount.2
The only fair cross-provider test is the final recipient-gets amount for the same send amount, corridor, and timestamp.1 Documented 2026 corridor tests put Wise at around 0.5 to 1 percent all-in for major currencies, while megabank wires in the same snapshots run several percent all-in: about 5,000 to 10,000 JPY of combined cost per 100,000 JPY sent, a share that falls as amounts rise (as of 2026-02; confirm current figures with each provider's live quote).3 Fees here vary by provider, corridor, amount, and payout rail rather than by where in Japan you live, so rerun the method below for your own corridor before sending.
The three cost components
Every international transfer resolves to the same question: what did it cost to deliver the funds. The map below shows the three lines that answer it.
The explicit transfer fee
The explicit fee is the named JPY charge per transfer, and the channel matters as much as the bank. The table below collects the published per-transfer fees current at research time (as of 2026-03 for MUFG pages and 2026-09 for the rest; confirm current figures with each provider's fee page).
| Item | Fee | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MUFG outward to another bank, online | 3,000 JPY | 2026-03-024 | Via MUFG Direct internet banking |
| MUFG outward, branch counter | 7,000 JPY | 2026-03-024 | Foreign remittance Web support plus; execution takes about 3 business days |
| MUFG yen-handling surcharge | 0.050 percent, min 2,500 JPY | 2026-03-024 | Added on yen-denominated sends |
| MUFG paying-bank charge, sender-borne | 3,000 JPY | 2026-03-024 | Added at send time; later bills above 100,000 JPY are charged as the difference |
| Mizuho outward via app | 5,000 JPY | 2026-095 | App channel figure from bank FAQ |
| Japan Post Bank international remittance | 3,000 JPY | 2026-096 | Debited separately from the send amount, tax excluded |
| Wise send pricing | From 0.23 percent plus small flat fee | 2026-097 | Shown upfront before confirmation |
SBI Shinsei's GoRemit service, once a mid-cost wire option, ended on October 20, 2025; the bank now points customers to the SBI Remit international remittance service.8
The 仕向送金 (shikō sōkin, "outward remittance") fee is what you pay to send, while the 被仕向送金 (hishikō sōkin, "inward remittance") fee applies when money arrives.4 Yen-denominated sends at MUFG also attract the 円為替取扱手数料 (en kawase toriatsukai tesūryō, "yen-handling charge on yen-denominated transfers").4
The FX spread
The FX spread is the percentage gap between the rate you are offered and the mid-market rate, the live benchmark midpoint for the currency pair.1 Banks convert yen-to-foreign at their own TTSレート (TTS rēto, "telegraphic transfer selling rate, margin included") and foreign-to-yen at the TTBレート (TTB rēto, "telegraphic transfer buying rate, margin included").2 The margin lives inside the rate itself, so no receipt line item ever names it.
Mizuho publishes per-currency margins including USD at 2 JPY per USD (as of 2026-09; confirm current figures with Mizuho Bank), EUR at 4.50 JPY per EUR (as of 2026-09), and GBP at 7 JPY per GBP (as of 2026-09).5 At around 150 JPY per USD, a 1 JPY margin costs roughly 0.7 percent of the converted amount and a 2 JPY margin roughly 1.3 percent.5 This is where most hidden cost lives: on a 100,000 JPY transfer, a 2 to 3 percent markup costs 2,000 to 3,000 JPY before the flat fee is counted.
Wise works differently. It converts at the mid-market rate with no markup in the conversion and earns only the upfront fee.7 Japan Post Bank applies its published rate at application time, so the rate does as much work as the 3,000 JPY fee in deciding what arrives.6
Pull each provider's quoted rate next to the mid-market rate for the same minute. A gap of 1 to 2 JPY per USD decides the ranking more often than any flat-fee difference.1
The SWIFT intermediary bank fee
On SWIFT-routed transfers, intermediary and beneficiary banks may each deduct a handling fee from the amount in transit.2 There can be more than one intermediary bank on a single transfer.2 The exact total stays unknown until processing because it depends on the currency, correspondent policies, and countries involved.2
These bank-concerned charges fall on the recipient as a deduction even where your own transfer fee is waived.2 Wise describes the same mechanics from its side: SWIFT payouts take longer and correspondent banks may deduct handling fees, while domestic 振込 (furikomi, "domestic bank transfer, the cheaper local payout rail") is faster and cheaper where available.9 Japan Post Bank likewise warns that intermediary and receiving-bank charges may come out of the remittance amount.6 MUFG notes paying-bank and intermediary charges may apply separately from its listed fees.4
If a quote cannot say what intermediaries will take, carry that line as unknown in your comparison. A row that assumes zero for an unverified charge is incomplete, not cheap.1
The 経由銀行 (keiyu ginkō, "intermediary or correspondent bank in the SWIFT chain") takes its cut mid-flight on a 電信送金 (denshin sōkin, "telegraphic or wire transfer").25
The comparison method: Wise as the baseline
Use Wise's "you send X, recipient gets Y" quote as the practical mid-market reference, then back out the all-in cost of each competing tool against it.
Step 1: Capture the mid-market reference
Take a Wise quote for your exact send amount and corridor. Its quote uses the live mid-market rate plus an upfront fee, which is what makes it a usable reference.7 Capture every competing quote in the same window because rates move intraday.1
The arithmetic is: ((mid-market rate minus provider rate) divided by mid-market rate) times 100 gives the markup percent; multiply by the send amount for the markup cost in yen.1 The 仲値 (nakane, "mid-market or middle rate") is the benchmark the spread is measured against.1
Screenshot each provider's quoted rate and recipient-gets figure within minutes of each other. Stale quotes make the ranking meaningless because the market moved between captures.1
Step 2: Back out the all-in cost on competing tools
Total estimated cost equals explicit fees plus FX markup plus expected downstream deductions, and effective cost percent equals that total divided by the send amount.1 Keep each line separate until the final total so you can see which line decided the ranking.1
Quotes go stale fast because pricing moves, so recheck the live quote at confirmation time rather than deciding from an earlier capture.1 If the quoted recipient amount and your worksheet math do not reconcile within rounding, the row is incomplete; refresh it rather than deciding from the headline fee.1
Worked example: sending JPY 100,000 to a US bank account
The snapshot below replays a dated publisher test of a JPY 100,000 send to a US bank account at early-February-2026 rate levels (as of 2026-02; confirm current figures with each provider's live quote).3 Read it for shape, then rerun the steps above with live quotes for your own transfer.
| Route | Send fee | FX margin cost | Recipient deduction | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wise | About 600 to 700 JPY | About 0 at mid-market | 0 JPY via local payout | About 600 to 900 JPY3 |
| Japan Post Bank online | 3,000 JPY | About 2,000 JPY (about 2 percent) | Unknown until processed | About 5,000 JPY plus unknown3 |
| MUFG online | 3,000 JPY | About 2,000 to 3,000 JPY (2 to 3 percent) | Unknown until processed | About 5,000 to 6,000 JPY plus unknown3 |
| Mizuho online | 5,000 JPY | About 2,000 to 3,000 JPY (2 to 3 percent) | Unknown until processed | About 7,000 to 8,000 JPY plus unknown3 |
In that snapshot, Wise delivered roughly 667 to 671 USD as the baseline (as of 2026-02).3 Japan Post Bank online delivered roughly 619 to 626 USD, MUFG online roughly 615 to 625 USD, and Mizuho online roughly 601 to 612 USD (each as of 2026-02).3 The same publisher's JPY 300,000 snapshot shows the Wise-to-Mizuho recipient gap at roughly 155 to 185 USD, which shows spread cost scaling with amount while flat fees do not (as of 2026-02).3
How to read the table
Treat every row as a dated snapshot, not a live price. Banks publish the TTS rate itself rather than a markup percent, so the margin column here is implied from the snapshot's provider rate against mid-market at that time.2 Your corridor, amount, and timestamp will produce different numbers; the method travels, the figures do not.1
Use this table to learn which line dominates each route, then replace every cell with a fresh quote. Sending on stale numbers repeats the exact mistake this article exists to prevent.1
When a bank wire still makes sense
Type II fund-transfer operators, the registration tier covering most remittance apps, may handle at most 1,000,000 JPY per transfer; anything larger in one go needs a Type I operator or a bank.10 The 資金移動業 (shikin idō gyō, "fund-transfer business, a non-bank remittance operator under the Payment Services Act") boundary is structural, not a promotion.10
Wise's Japan limits show the same boundary: up to 1,000,000 JPY from a Wise account balance for Japan-registered users, and up to 150,000,000 JPY per Send transfer paid from outside Wise.9 Japan Post Bank caps its service below 1,000,000 JPY per transfer with 2,000,000 JPY per day and 5,000,000 JPY per month limits (as of 2026-09; confirm current figures with Japan Post Bank).6
Financial institutions also file a 国外送金等調書 (kokugai sōkin tō chōsho, "statement of overseas remittance filed by the financial institution with the tax office") for reportable overseas transfers, with the institution doing the filing rather than the sender.11 Bank wires therefore suit large or formal transfers that need a strong paper trail despite their higher cost, while small personal remittances favor app operators on total cost.1
Good to know
Comparing headline fees without checking the rate
This is the most common mistake in the whole topic. The FX markup on bank wires is typically several times larger than the explicit fee, so a lower-fee route can still deliver less money.1 Always rank by the recipient-gets figure for identical inputs.
A zero-fee transfer with a wide spread
A 0 JPY fee with a 3 percent markup costs about 3,000 JPY per 100,000 JPY sent, while a 700 JPY fee at the mid-market rate costs 700 JPY.13 The no-fee label describes one line item. Only the total describes the transfer.
Weekend and after-hours quotes shifting before execution
Rates move intraday, so a ranking built on evening quotes may not survive the next morning.1 Capture all quotes in the same window and recheck the live quote at confirmation time.
Splitting one large transfer without rechecking per-transfer caps
A split plan that ignores caps fails at execution. Type II operators stop at 1,000,000 JPY per transfer, and Japan Post Bank stops below 1,000,000 JPY per transfer with daily and monthly caps on top.106 Map the cap for each leg before committing to a split.
See also
- Wise Japan Remittance: Sending Money To and From Japan
- Sending Money In vs Out of Japan: Why Outbound Transfers Face More Checks
- Japan Post Bank for Foreigners: Opening a Yucho Account
- Megabanks: When They Make Sense
- Revolut Japan and Multi-Currency Alternatives