世界には親心しかない in KOBE

When it comes to Japanese banks, the three megabanks—Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank—are renowned worldwide. While the advantages of using these megabanks for international transactions or company management are considerable, online banks have recently become more convenient, making them a better option for personal use. The online bank I primarily use is a service called Matsui Bank. Although it is branded as Matsui Bank, it is actually operated by Sumishin SBI Net Bank and is treated as a Matsui branch. The benefits of online banks are significant, and once you start using them, you won't want to use anything else. Most notably, their fees are generally lower. There are often no charges for a certain number of transfers, and ATM usage fees are also often waived for a certain number of transactions. Additionally, they offer higher deposit interest rates. As far as I know, Matsui Bank currently offers the highest interest rate on regular de...

Since I moved to Kobe, I thought about switching my personal bank to one with "Kobe" in its name. In the past, it was difficult to do business without a local bank due to the lack of ATMs and other services. However, that's no longer an issue. While my current online bank works perfectly fine, I thought it would be nice to use a bank named "Kobe" since I’m now living here. However, after some research, I found that such banks no longer exist. There once was a bank called Kobe Bank, but it merged with Taiyo Bank to become Taiyo Kobe Bank, which later merged with Mitsui Bank to become Taiyo Kobe Mitsui Bank. It then changed its name to Sakura Bank and finally merged to become Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. There isn't a bank with "Kobe" in its name, but there is a credit union called "Kobe Shinkin Bank." Unfortunately, there isn't a branch nearby, so I might have to give up on this idea...