Sending Money from Japan to Taiwan: Bank Account or Cash Pickup

Japan to Taiwan is not a hard remittance corridor. The hard part is usually not the money movement itself. It is choosing the right receiving setup.

The decision is simpler if you separate it into two cases:

the person in Taiwan has a bank account
the person in Taiwan does not have a bank account

If fuyou or other family-support proof matters, that split matters even more.

The First Decision: Bank Account or No Bank Account

Most comparison pages jump straight into app names. That is too early.

For Taiwan, the first question is:

Receiving situation	Usually the cleaner route	Why
Recipient has a bank account in Taiwan	Bank-account transfer	Better long-term documentation, less pickup friction
Recipient has no bank account	Cash pickup or a Taiwan-side agent network	More practical for the recipient, but documentation quality matters more

If your goal is only “get money there today,” cash pickup can be perfectly fine.

If your goal is “send money to a parent in Taiwan and keep the records usable for Japanese tax paperwork later,” bank-account delivery is usually the cleaner setup.

Why `Fuyou` Changes the Recommendation

Japan’s National Tax Agency guidance on non-resident dependents is built around relationship documents and remittance-related documents.

That means for a Taiwan-based parent or relative, the question is not just “Was money sent?” It is also:

does the document clearly show you as sender
does it clearly show the specific relative as recipient
can you show the transfers across the year in a way your HR team or the tax office can follow

This is one reason bank-account transfers are often easier. The recipient name is usually tied to the bank account record more cleanly than it is in a loose family-cash situation.

What the Fees Look Like on a Typical `Fuyou` Transfer

There is no official NTA “standard fuyou amount,” but ¥380,000 is an important threshold in one common case. For non-resident relatives aged 30 to under 70 who do not fall under the study-abroad or disability exceptions, the NTA requires a 380,000 yen remittance document showing that the total paid to that specific person during the year reached ¥380,000 or more.

So this section uses two examples:

¥50,000 as a small monthly family-support transfer
¥380,000 as a threshold-style annual transfer when the NTA’s 30-69 support exception applies

This is per dependent. It is not a universal minimum for every overseas relative.

One caveat up front: not every provider publishes a clean static Taiwan fee table. Where a provider only shows a live quote, or only exposes a different sample amount publicly, I say that clearly instead of inventing a fake exact number.

Method	Official fee structure	Practical read at ¥50,000	Biggest extra cost to watch
Wise	Variable upfront fee. Wise’s current public Japan→Taiwan page shows ¥1,713 total fee on a ¥200,000 bank-transfer example, with the route displayed as JPY → USD	No flat public ¥50,000 table. Use the live quote. Wise is still the benchmark to compare against if the recipient can receive the displayed payout currency cleanly	The Taiwan route shown publicly is USD, not a simple guaranteed TWD default
Revolut to Taiwan USD account	Revolut says no international transfer fee on the transfer itself. Standard plan users get weekday FX up to ¥300,000/month with no extra Revolut fee, then 0.5% above that. Standard users also pay 1% on weekend exchanges. Intermediary institutions may charge USD 15–50 on SWIFT transfers	Best case on a weekday under the Standard limit: ¥0 Revolut transfer fee. Weekend conversion adds about ¥500 on ¥50,000. But one intermediary charge can cost more than the app fee itself	Intermediary / beneficiary-bank deductions on USD SWIFT transfers
PayForex	No registration fee and no monthly fee. Taiwan is not exposed as a simple static public fee row on PayForex’s fee page, so the exact Taiwan remittance fee must be checked live. PayForex does separately publish admin fees such as ¥2,500 for “Pay Other Bank Charges” and ¥4,000 for refund / amendment / inquiry cases	Live quote required. Treat it as “remittance fee + possible funding fee + possible bank-charge option,” not as a zero-fee route	Funding method costs and admin fees if the transfer needs correction or refund
Standard bank wire (PRESTIA example)	PRESTIA’s published online fee for normal account holders is ¥3,500/transfer, with an optional ¥1,500 correspondent-bank-charge instruction fee. FX spread and intermediary / beneficiary bank charges are separate	On a small ¥50,000 support transfer, this is usually the expensive but formal route	Intermediary / beneficiary bank charges and FX spread
Western Union direct	Japan’s public Western Union send page is quote-based rather than a stable published Taiwan fee table	Check the live quote before relying on it	Quote can move; cash pickup is practical but not always the cheapest
Seven Bank + Western Union cash pickup	Seven Bank publishes a fee table. For cash pickup to “other countries”, the fee at ¥40,001–¥50,000 is ¥1,200. If you send from a Seven Bank ATM, a separate off-hours ATM fee can apply	¥1,200 is the clean published Japan-side fee anchor for a ¥50,000 Taiwan cash-pickup transfer	Cash-pickup record trail is weaker than bank-account delivery, and ATM timing can add a small extra fee

For a ¥380,000 threshold-style transfer, the fixed-fee routes read differently:

Method	What changes at ¥380,000
Revolut to Taiwan USD account	A single ¥380,000 weekday conversion can exceed the free Standard-plan monthly FX allowance by about ¥80,000, so the excess may face the Standard-plan extra fee. Splitting across months may change the app fee, but the annual total still needs to be clear per dependent.
PayForex	Taiwan is still live-quote territory on the public fee table, so check the exact route before relying on it for the ¥380,000 case.
Bank wire / PRESTIA	A ¥3,500 transfer fee is expensive on ¥50,000, but less painful on ¥380,000. It may still be worth it if the bank-issued trail matters.

Best Setup If the Person in Taiwan Has a Bank Account

If the recipient already has a Taiwan bank account, the safest default is to prefer a bank-account transfer route over cash pickup.

Option 1: Wise — but check the payout currency carefully

Wise is still worth checking first because it is transparent and usually efficient. But Taiwan has an important wrinkle.

Wise’s current Japan-to-Taiwan page says the recipient receives money in a local bank account, but the route it currently displays for Japan is JPY → USD, not a simple public-facing JPY → TWD flow.

That matters.

It means Wise can still be useful, but you should not assume the person in Taiwan is receiving plain TWD into an ordinary TWD account just because Wise is your default for other countries.

The practical read is:

check the live payout currency before you send
check whether the recipient account is appropriate for that payout
and do not treat Wise as “automatic Taiwan default” without that verification

If the live route works for your case, Wise is still attractive because:

fees are shown clearly
the exchange rate logic is transparent
transfer history is easy to export

For cost, Wise is still the cleanest modern benchmark here. The important limitation is not “hidden fees” so much as route fit: the current public Taiwan page is showing JPY → USD, and the exact fee is quote-based rather than a flat published Taiwan fee card.

Option 2: Revolut to a Taiwan USD account

Revolut is not a clean public JPY → TWD default for Taiwan, but there is one practical case where it can work well.

Revolut Japan’s official supported outgoing currencies page lists USD as a supported outbound transfer currency, even though TWD is not listed there.

That creates a workable Taiwan setup if the recipient in Taiwan has a foreign-currency USD account in their own name.

This is not theoretical. For fuyou-related family support, I have done this myself: my family opened a Taiwan foreign-currency account, I sent JPY from Japan, and they received USD.

In my case, Revolut also produced documentation that was usable for fuyou, similar to Wise.

The practical rules are:

use this only if the recipient account is a real USD-receiving Taiwan account
keep the account in the dependent’s own name if documentation quality matters
verify the live route in the Revolut app before sending
avoid weekend currency conversion if you are converting inside Revolut, because the official Revolut help pages still warn about weekend FX markup

So Revolut is still not the ordinary Taiwan default. But for a family-support case where Taiwan-side USD receiving is acceptable, it can be a perfectly usable workaround.

On fees, the app-side cost can look very good on paper for a small fuyou transfer:

¥0 international transfer fee from Revolut itself
¥0 extra FX fee on weekdays for Standard users if total monthly exchange volume stays under ¥300,000
1% weekend markup for Standard users if you exchange on the weekend

But the real Taiwan-side risk is the one Revolut cannot control: intermediary or beneficiary-bank deductions on USD SWIFT transfers. On a small support transfer, those external bank fees can matter more than the app fee.

Option 3: PayForex

PayForex is also worth checking on the Taiwan corridor, especially if fuyou paperwork matters.

This is another route I have used myself for family-support transfers from Japan to Taiwan.

The useful part is not only the transfer itself. PayForex’s official support pages say it offers:

downloadable overseas remittance certificates, and
mailed annual remittance certificates

That makes PayForex more interesting than a generic “another app” option if your real goal is to keep a clean document trail for HR or tax filing later.

In my case, PayForex also provided documentation that worked for fuyou, not just the transfer itself.

The practical read is:

check the live Taiwan route and receiving method before relying on it
make sure the recipient name is the dependent’s own name if fuyou matters
keep the exported records together instead of trying to rebuild them at year-end

Cost-wise, the main thing to know is that PayForex’s public site gives you useful fee building blocks, but not a clean public Taiwan fee row. What it does publish clearly is:

no registration fee
no monthly fee
funding / administrative fees that depend on method
¥2,500 if you choose the “Pay Other Bank Charges” option
¥4,000 for refund, amendment, or inquiry cases

So PayForex is best thought of as a route where you should verify the live Taiwan quote first, then judge whether the documentation advantages are worth it for your use case.

Option 4: Standard bank wire

If the recipient has a normal Taiwan bank account and you want a more formal paper trail, a traditional bank wire is often the simplest conservative option.

This usually fits better when:

the amount is larger
the recipient already uses ordinary Taiwan banking
you want straightforward remittance records

For people who care about documentation quality more than the cheapest spread, a bank-backed route can still make sense. PRESTIA’s official overseas remittance page is a good example of the more formal end of the spectrum.

The fee side is the tradeoff. PRESTIA’s published online fee for ordinary account holders is ¥3,500 per transfer, and if you want to instruct correspondent-bank charges to be paid in full, the published extra fee is ¥1,500. That is before any FX spread and before any intermediary / beneficiary bank deduction.

Option 5: Western Union to a Taiwan banking partner

Taiwan’s official Western Union receive page says recipients in Taiwan can receive:

cash pickup, or
money into a King’s Town Bank / GOYEE account via online banking

That makes Western Union more flexible than “cash only.” But it is not the same as saying it is your best default for every Taiwan bank-account case.

It works best when:

the recipient already uses the supported Taiwan-side banking setup, or
you want a backup route that can still fall back to cash pickup if needed

The fee itself is quote-based on the Japan-side Western Union flow, so you need to check it live. If you want a published Japan-side fee anchor instead of a live-only quote, Seven Bank’s Western Union fee table is easier to work from.

Best Setup If the Person in Taiwan Does Not Have a Bank Account

This is where the recommendation changes.

If the recipient does not have a bank account, the most practical official route is usually Western Union cash pickup.

Taiwan’s official Western Union receive page says recipients can pick up cash at an agent location in Taiwan by presenting:

the sender’s name
sending country
sent amount
the MTCN tracking number
government-issued photo ID

Japan’s official Western Union send page for Japan also shows that from Japan you can send through:

westernunion.com
the Western Union app
in-person agent locations
or through Seven Bank ATMs / internet banking

That makes this route the cleanest answer for:

an older parent in Taiwan who does not use a bank account
a recipient who wants cash immediately
a family member who finds bank setup more difficult than pickup

For costs, Western Union direct is still quote-based. If you want a published Japan-side fee schedule for the same broad cash-pickup network, Seven Bank is easier to benchmark.

Seven Bank vs Western Union Direct

Seven Bank is not a separate Taiwan network. It is a Japan-side sending channel that works with Western Union.

Seven Bank’s official international money transfer service page and FAQ show that:

you need a Seven Bank account
you need to register for the international money transfer service
the Western Union route can send to about 200 countries
the recipient country’s own limits may still apply

So the practical difference is:

Route	Best when
Western Union directly	You want flexibility and do not need a Seven Bank setup
Seven Bank + Western Union	You already use Seven Bank and want ATM / online sending from that ecosystem

For Taiwan-style cash pickup, Seven Bank is one of the few Japan-side routes here with a public fee table. On its current published schedule, cash pickup to “other countries” at ¥40,001–¥50,000 costs ¥1,200. If you send from a Seven Bank ATM, an additional off-hours ATM fee may apply depending on timing.

One more detail from Seven Bank’s FAQ: the service is only for remitting to individuals who meet Seven Bank’s standards, and commercial purposes are not allowed.

That is fine for family support. It is not something to use for business settlement.

Why Revolut Is Not a Simple TWD Default for Taiwan

Revolut is strong on many corridors, but Taiwan needs a more precise read.

Revolut Japan’s official supported outgoing currencies page does not list TWD as a supported outbound transfer currency from Japan.

That means the simple “send JPY and land TWD in a normal Taiwan account” mental model is not what Revolut officially presents from Japan.

But that is not the same as saying “Revolut never works for Taiwan.”

If the recipient in Taiwan has a USD foreign-currency account, Revolut can still be practical. I have used that route myself for fuyou: JPY sent from Japan, USD received in Taiwan.

So if Taiwan is your regular corridor:

Wise may still be worth checking live
Revolut can work if the Taiwan side is set up to receive USD
PayForex is also worth comparing if you care about remittance-certificate exports
bank wire is still viable
Western Union / Seven Bank is the cleanest no-bank-account option

So the right summary is: Revolut is not the obvious public TWD default, but it can be useful on Taiwan if the recipient side is set up correctly.

Which Route Is Better for `Fuyou`

This is the part that most people actually care about later.

If you are sending money to Taiwan for a parent or other overseas dependent and want the record to stay usable for Japanese tax paperwork, this is the practical ranking:

Route	`Fuyou` documentation quality	Practical read
Bank transfer to the dependent’s own Taiwan account	Best	Cleanest name matching and transfer trail
Formal bank wire / PRESTIA-style record	Strong	Good if you want bank-issued records
PayForex transfer with exported or annual certificate	Often usable	Worth checking if you want a cleaner certificate trail from a remittance service; worked in my case for `fuyou`
Wise transfer with clear recipient detail	Often usable	Good if the exported record is clean and HR accepts it
Revolut to the dependent’s own Taiwan USD account	Can be good	Works better when the recipient has a proper USD foreign-currency account and the transfer trail is clear; worked in my case for `fuyou`
Western Union / Seven Bank cash pickup	Can work, but be more careful	Keep every receipt and make sure the recipient identity is clear

The NTA cares about document type and clarity, not whether the brand feels modern.

But in practice, if your HR team is conservative, bank-based records are often easier to defend than a pile of cash-pickup receipts.

If this is your use case, the best companion article is our full overseas dependent deduction guide, because the remittance itself is only one part of the paperwork.

The Most Common Mistakes on the Taiwan Corridor

1. Assuming any Taiwan receipt method is equally good for tax documentation

It is not. A smooth cash pickup and a clean year-end remittance trail are not always the same thing.

2. Assuming Wise means TWD by default

The current public Japan-side page for Taiwan shows JPY → USD, so verify the live payout route before using old assumptions.

3. Sending to a family account that does not clearly belong to the dependent you want to claim

If the person you want to claim for fuyou is your mother, the cleanest trail is still money sent to her, not a vague shared family arrangement.

4. Treating Taiwan like a “just use Revolut” corridor

Because TWD is not listed on Revolut Japan’s outbound supported-currency page, Taiwan is not one of the easiest corridors to standardize around Revolut alone. If you use Revolut here, think in terms of a USD-account workaround, not a generic Taiwan default.

A Simple Recommendation

If the person in Taiwan has a bank account:

start by checking Wise live
compare PayForex if you care about remittance-certificate exports
if the dependent can open a Taiwan USD foreign-currency account, Revolut can also work
if the payout-currency setup is awkward, use a bank wire
if you care about stronger documentation, a more formal bank route can still be worth it

If the person in Taiwan does not have a bank account:

use Western Union cash pickup
or Seven Bank + Western Union if you already use Seven Bank
keep the receipt trail carefully if the transfer may later support fuyou

And if your real goal is long-term family-support documentation, the cleanest answer is still the boring one:

get the dependent onto a bank-account-based receiving route in their own name if possible

That removes a lot of future friction.

Key sources: NTA English guidance on documents for non-resident dependent claims, Wise on sending money from Japan to Taiwan, Revolut Japan on supported outbound transfer currencies and weekend exchange markup, PayForex on overseas remittance certificate downloads and annual remittance certificate delivery, Western Union Taiwan on receiving money, Western Union Japan on sending money from Japan, and Seven Bank on its international money transfer service and FAQ. Provider routes, supported currencies, and receiving requirements can change, so always verify the live route before sending.