---
title: "Corporate bank account in Japan — bank-by-bank overview"
url: https://memocore.ai/memos/6a5f62b063d783ad68709343
project: "Doing Business in Japan"
tags: "japan-business, bank-account"
updated_at: "2026-07-21T12:14:40.041Z"
---

# Corporate bank account in Japan — bank-by-bank overview

Opening a corporate bank account is a separate, and often harder, task than opening a personal one: banks will not open a corporate account without the director holding a valid visa. Personal and corporate accounts are usually opened at different banks. A common practice is to apply to several banks in parallel (SBI, GMO, etc.); until an account is opened, it is possible to temporarily run the business through a personal account. There are known cases of running a business in Japan for 2-3 years entirely without a corporate account (cash-only settlement), with the business visa still being successfully renewed. See: Corporate account — major banks (SBI Sumishin, SMBC, SMBC Trunk). See: Corporate account — other banks and alternatives.