postal chokin services

[napajeriter]

In post offices in Japan I see always windows dedicated to "chokin". Before investigating further I thought of asking here, has anybody used their services? I wonder would leaving money there be just like storing it into a bank account? Or do they have something similar to a private pension fund, independent of the state pension? Or do they offer some other kind of integration of state pension? Briefly, does the postal service offer some convenient alternative to save money as compared, say, to buying from index funds on Monex?

[TokyoWart]

The "chokin" savings accounts have very low interest rates:

https://www.jp-bank.japanpost.jp/kinri/kinri.html

I last used one of these about 15 years ago when the rate was 50x higher and still under a fraction of a percent.

I think you can also buy mutual funds through the postal bank but I've never done that:
https://apl.morningstar.co.jp/webasp/jp ... spx?&tab=1

[adamu]

I recently discovered (and shared on another thread), that JP Post Bank deposits are unique in that interest-earning deposits are 100% guaranteed by the government to any amount (although it would be worth fact-checking that). Other banks' accounts are insured by the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Japan up to 10M yen.

Historically it used to be run by the government, but now I don't think there's any difference to the other banks other than the deposit security (and filling out a different section on bank transfer forms).

[napajeriter]

Adamu, thank you but I somehow can't locate that post of yours, could you paste a link?

[adamu]

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=977