Mizuho Bank suffers 5th Japan-wide system failure of 2021

I finally said goodbye to my mizuho account on Thursday by closing the two accounts I had with them. I had to fill in a couple of papers and then had to wait over an hour sitting still while they closed my accounts. There was little to no other clients at the bank at the time too...

Terrible online banking that looks as if it was stuck in the times when internet just begun (website style)

The app on the phone is terrible too. You could not even see your history beyond a couple of months back. (if I remember correctly)

Not directly on topic, but yesterday Mizuho sent me a request to update proof I had an alien card(after 15 years of banking and investment with them). I had to photocopy my card, take the scissors and cut out a copy of each side, paste it on an A4 sheet they had supplied and then snail mail it to them.

i felt like i was back in the 1970’s. Perhaps the problem is much wider and deeper than just IT.

Not directly on topic, but yesterday Mizuho sent me a request to update proof I had an alien card(after 15 years of banking and investment with them). I had to photocopy my card, take the scissors and cut out a copy of each side, paste it on an A4 sheet they had supplied and then snail mail it to them.

i felt like i was back in the 1970’s. Perhaps the problem is much wider and deeper than just IT.

Likewise only tangentially related, but a few months back I got a letter from the Post Office Bank, which is one of a number of banks where I hold an account. It asked - well, technically, demanded - that I provide a whole bunch of information to prove that I wasn't a money launderer. "OK, fair enough" I thought, and gave them what they wanted. I mentioned this to my wife, who's a Japanese national. "I never got one of those" she said, and rang the bank's call centre. Now, my wife has, for a Japanese person, a pretty blunt manner when she thinks something's not right. At first she simply asked the call centre operator why her husband, a foreigner, received such a letter while she, a Japanese national, did not. The operator stated that the letters were being sent out in a particular sequence. Putting aside the fact that we live at the same address. my wife then added (in Japanese, of course, but with more than a hint of sarcasm) "You can understand why it might seem like discrimination if my husband gets one and I don't", to which the operator started sounding extremely nervous and swore up and down that it was nothing to do with any form of discrimination.

Fast forward to today, at least two months later, and she still hasn't received a letter addressed to her.

I'm going to close my savings account at Mizuho first thing Monday morning.

Banking systems are amongst the toughest to maintain or modernise.

You usually have multiple legacy systems (some very old), multiple locations and multiple interfaces. They are expected to run 24/7 and have online services welded on like a steampunk bunion.

Even in Europe banking services go down quite often.

Although this sounds grim, if you still have branches, be happy. In the UK bank branches have been vanishing for years. Belatedly, multibank hubs are being trialled.

Welcome to third world country of Japan.

a corporate culture in which employees hesitated to speak up during emergency situations to avoid responsibility.

The above statement is applicable to the country as well. Just replace corporate with national and employees with citizens and viola Japan in a nutshell.

A little while back I took six million in cash from one bank to pay off a loan at Mizuho. My stacks of paper were all in order. Everything had a hanko on it, and I faxed all the papers to them as requested, then took the originals and the cash to pay off the loan.

Four hours later I was requested to go downstairs to another department to finalize the payment.

When I got downstairs, a machine was churning out a large stack of old bills. I said to myself that looks almost like what I paid, but thicker because they were not new bills like mine.

A secretary picked up the stack, put them on a tray and carried them straight to me and said here is your loan minus a transaction fee.

Guess who got angry and started yelling?

Mizuho has issues.

Had this been a foreign bank in Japan, they would have lost their banking licence for sure.

The FSA would be soon knocking at their doors.

I received the same notice 18 months ago or so and ignored it. It is not a requirement.

Well they certainly don't take it seriously enough since it's the fifth time. If memory serves, they also had a breakdown on their opening day. Customers would serve themselves well to take their business elsewhere.

I wonder if I'll go to the bank one day and find that all the money in my account is gone.

Time to move away from Mizuho get a bank account at UFJ and glad I don’t work in there inept IT department

Failure all around, Japan is really going down, it seeems.

Mizuho has been having a Y2K moment with their prehistoric technology!

Banks and WallStreet use legacy systems because they have been stable and reliable. They have been gun shy to upgrade in fear of some kind of glitch that could cause financial meltdown.

Eventually, these systems will breakdown. Mizuho is ahead of the game for the wrong reasons!

Things have to change in Japan for banks, not only MIZUHO.

extremely regrettable

I stopped using MUFJ a couple months ago due to the rising cost of the transactions with them and to the fact that their web banking is pretty bad.

I switched to Rakuten. Setting up the account was a very long process, but their internet banking and apps are 100x better than the traditional banks here. Still miles away from the online banking in the west but decent nonetheless. Not to mention that, unlike most banks, a lot of transactions are free of charge.

@Stefan Drapeaufaux

Yes I have had to supply information to various financial institutions recently to prove I am not a money launderer.

It’s a hassle so I closed some of the accounts.

This crap is coming from the regulators, not the financial institutions I think.

It worked yesterday. And did I actually receive a bonus?

Key decision makers are old and most systems are outdated in Japan , IT guys are mostly from the 90's, they update their knowledge buy reading "how to" books with pics bought at Kinokuniya. Digital technology awareness and expertise is virtually non existent in the general public including the Universities but the most important point is just lack of ideas, logic less decision-making , long term planning and leadership by the political elite e.g instead of funding IT studies from Elementary school, they decide to waste billions on a 3 week event in the summer. Pathetic!

I use an American-based Credit Union

What's the name of the credit union?

I miss the days when Daisuke Matsuzaka (Baseball: Seibu Lions Japan & Boston Red Sox US) was in the news for a week, because he got a parking ticket in Japan. Maybe that is what got us into this mess in the first place. No one in Japan had their eye on the ball.

5th time this year?

excuse me……

(withdraws all entities involving Mizuho.)

"...because America now required it. Blame America."

Far more likely it's due to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), an initiative of the OECD, with over 100 countries signed on, including Japan. Banks in those countries are obligated to collect holders' tax id numbers, which in Japan is the My Number, and to exchange other account data with the tax authorities of member countries.

This seems to be an annual occurrence. Haven't used Mizuho for nearly a decade.

Shinsei credit cards are not reliable and not international anymore unless they changed it.

Pathetic. Banking is a cut throat business. If they haven't booted those culpable it means the rot is further up the chain like in the ceo's office.

Like the International Cash Card, the GAICA Flex prepaid card can be used in over 200 countries and territories around the world to make cash withdrawals in the local currency. If you load your Japanese Yen or foreign currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, AUD) from your Shinsei PowerFlex account to this card and you can withdraw at overseas ATMs and make payments in VISA affiliate stores in Japan and overseas*1.

Customers over 13 years old*2, residing in Japan, with Shinsei PowerFlex accounts and valid email addresses will be able to sign-up without any credit checks.

You have to load the card with a currency. It is not like a credit card or a debit card. Shinsei online banking info.

My Mizuho and other ATM cards are also Debit, Credit cards, and handy. I use several methods all the time including carrying cash when in Japan.

Not everyone got those emails I am afraid. Do not know anyone that did actually. Knew of three people so dependant on the cards (ATM) they never thought about taking anything else. I carry three Japanese cards and three US-issued cards to cover everything.

I use an American-based Credit Union system through the State Department which is rather handy and very secure. No hoop jumping to get things done.

Want to check out 7 and iHoldings ATM though as it appears they are feeless rather than Japan Post.

Thanks for the updates and info. Hope the JP government is helping you out with your business slowed down by this Corona stuff.

Getting some sleep. Up for an 8 am flight tomorrow rather early. Ishikawa

Mizuaho.

Whatever the card is, they really made a mess of people with their cards while traveling out of Japan as the cards were rejected. People were really stuck if they did not have another credit card issued by a different bank or institution.

Shinsei:

Notice regarding the ending of International Cash Card (Overseas ATM) service

This is an advance notice for ending the International Cash Card (Overseas ATM) service function of Shinsei PowerFlex accounts. Please confirm the details below.

Ending of cash withdrawal and balance inquiry functions(Important!)

December 8, 2018 (Sat)

All services such as cash withdrawals and balance inquiry from overseas ATMs will end from this date.

We will stop offering and reissuing cash cards with the International Cash Card (Overseas ATM) service function from October 19, 2018 (Fri).

Thus, cash cards issued after October 20, 2018 (Sat) will not have International Cash Card (Overseas ATM) service function. Please use the cash card at domestic ATM locations.