Wise received approval for direct access to Japan's bank payment-clearing network, Reuters reported on 17 October 2024. The company said the connection would let it bypass intermediary banks processing and settling funds in Japan. The announcement came in a growing remittance market: transfers into and out of Japan totalled ¥1.54 trillion in the 2023 financial year, up 14.4%, according to Bank of Japan figures cited by Reuters. That market total concerns transfers across Japan's borders, not Wise's own transaction volume.
Connection preparations
In its same-day notice, Zengin-Net identified the approved participant as Wise Payments Japan, a Type 1 funds-transfer operator. It was the first funds-transfer operator approved since participation eligibility was extended in October 2022. The operator described further work rather than a completed technical connection:
- Meeting membership conditions.
- Connection testing through an API gateway that was still under development.
Earlier Japanese licence
On 12 March 2024, Wise had announced receipt of a Type 1 funds-transfer licence in Japan. It presented this as preparation for removing the ¥1 million per-transaction restriction associated with its existing Type 2 licence. The March announcement said customers would soon be able to transfer up to ¥150 million.
An existing bank-partner service
A separate corporate remittance service had launched on 29 May 2023 through GMO Aozora Net Bank and Wise Platform. The partners signed their agreement on 28 February 2023. The service required a corporate account with the bank. Their joint announcement specified 28 countries and regions and eight currencies: geographical destinations and currency choices were separate measures. The bank's business service included approval management through business IDs, email notifications to recipients and downloadable transaction documents. These were features of that earlier banking partnership.
Company contact
Wise. Media enquiries: press@wise.com. Website: https://wise.com/.