Terra Nakazawa, a reader in Yamanashi Prefecture, recently wrote to Lifelines about a request she received from her bank:
I just got a notice from my local bank, where I have an account that I use for my salary and from which I pay bills. I am being requested to appear in person and show my residence card to “confirm your identity” as part of “regular measures to protect against money laundering and terrorism funding.” Is this a requirement only for foreign people, and if so, why?
Nakazawa, who is American, works full time for a local company and has lived in Japan for nearly 10 years. Discussion with her Japanese colleagues and in-laws revealed that nobody had received a similar request from their bank to confirm their identity, which led her to wonder if this requirement was solely for non-Japanese customers.