Monex and Middle Names

[ToushiTime]

Having read the advice on here, I phoned Monex to double-check about applying with a name longer than their 20-character limit.

I have to apply by post as they won't let foreigners apply online, and two of the forms are:

1) 口座開設申込書 to open the account
2) ID confirmation form

I was told that because my full name is over 20 characters long, I should not put my name in English on the 口座開設申込書, i.e, I should put my family name, then my first name and middle name, all in kana.

Presumably this means I put my name in kana twice, once on the line where Japanese people put kanji, and once on the line below where Japanese put kana.

They told me to use English, of course, on the ID confirmation forms to match my zairyuu card and MyNumber card.

The other brokerages and banks I have used insist I register an English name for the account itself, so it feels odd registering a kana name as the default/main name for this account.

The guy I spoke to was pretty clueless and had to call back twice.

Has anyone registered a kana name for a brokerage?

Theoretically it could work, as the bank transfers are done in kana names usually.

On the other hand, doesn't the name of the account have to match the MyNumber card and zairyuu card which are in English?!!!

(For extra information: I registered a provisional name as Family Name, Personal Name, Abbreviated Middle Name in English, on the online application to receive postal application forms. They sent me a password to log into their site for an initial trial run with limited features. The name showing now in my provisional account on the web is that abbreviated name in English).

[sutebayashi]

Yes.

With my Monex account, I created it probably 10 years ago when things were looser, but I indeed have katakana version of my name registered for both the 氏名 and カナ part no space between first and middle names for the カナ as that is how my bank account is)

I come in under 20 katakana characters.

It doesn’t seem to bother them that the English name ID doesn’t match the katakana registration. The one which has to match for the purpose of funds transfers should be the カナ one, I believe.

[ToushiTime]

Thanks.
Yes, things were probably looser 10 years ago before they insisted on the inclusion middle names and using MyNumber cards. That is why I am worried I will have to go in circles yet again.
Also, my name in kana is over 20 characters, so why is that okay if they can't accept my English name which is also over 20 characters?

[TokyoWart]

I just took a look at my Monex account registration and it appears as follows (included the "氏名（カナ)" that appears on the screen to label the field as well as the use of parentheses for the katakana):

氏名（カナ） LASTNAME FIRSTANDMIDDLE (ラストネーム　ファストアンドミドル)

I opened my account in the fall of 2020. Last name stands alone but first and middle run together for both the romaji and the katakana.

[ToushiTime]

Hi, I have an update.


This afternoon, just now, a more senior guy, or so it seemed, called me back and told me that the previous guy on the phone this morning was wrong. Apparently, they do NOT want me to put kana on the top line where the kanji go for Japanese people.

They now want me to put my full name in English where Japanese people put kanji and put kana where they put kana, which is what I did for other brokerages.

The ID confirmation form still has to be all in English, as expected.

The guy just now also seemed confident that they could handle both my kana and English names being over their 20-character limit.

He also said it would be okay to leave a space between my first and middle name, which I have doubts about given what I have read on here in the past...

He told me not to worry as they have plenty of other foreign customers in the same situation.
If that is so, why am I always told conflicting things by these support staff, at Monex and elsewhere?
At least they were polite, which helps.

[sutebayashi]

Haha, yes it’s a mess. So my Kana everywhere situation is probably not what they want now, given the mismatch between id cards. But they haven’t asked me to change so no hassle (besides them thinking that foreigners more likely may be terrorists and requiring Id submission).

The kana length restriction at least should be aligned with the banking format.

So long as your bank account Kana matches your Monex Kana, you should be fine I think, spaces or not.

[adamu]

One thing I'm curious about is that Zengin, the furukomi system, technically supports romaji account names, yet compatibility with this system is the reason all the banks require a half-width katakana name

[ToushiTime]

So long as your bank account Kana matches your Monex Kana, you should be fine I think, spaces or not.

That is the question: whether they can actually fit more than 20 characters on their system. My bank could.
The first guy said no. The second guy said yes.

[ToushiTime]

I just took a look at my Monex account registration and it appears as follows (included the "氏名（カナ)" that appears on the screen to label the field as well as the use of parentheses for the katakana):

氏名（カナ） LASTNAME FIRSTANDMIDDLE (ラストネーム　ファストアンドミドル)

I opened my account in the fall of 2020. Last name stands alone but first and middle run together for both the romaji and the katakana.

When you applied by post, did you write your first and middle names without a space between them, or did Monex close them up later?

[sutebayashi]

So long as your bank account Kana matches your Monex Kana, you should be fine I think, spaces or not.

That is the question: whether they can actually fit more than 20 characters on their system. My bank could.
The first guy said no. The second guy said yes.

My money is on the first guy you spoke to being clueless about it. Searching the web now I see it (受取人名) is 30 characters for the recipient name, per the specification, if my glance was right.

Like adamu says I see it also allows for non katakana characters - that’s interesting! I guess it is counter intuitive for this field - which is usually katakana for Japanese names - to allow for English characters too, since English is not kana.

This kind of makes me curious to try to open a bank and securities account with English as the kana and challenge the bank with the zengin specification if their staffers or their web interface claim it should be katakana… businesses are looking out for LGTBQ+ etc these days so why not LGTBQ+F for foreign names as well.