Send money from Japan to the Philippines: fees, GCash limits and what arrives

How can my family receive money from Japan in the Philippines?

Four ways: cash at a pickup location, a deposit into a bank account, a GCash wallet, or delivery to your family’s home, which Remitly lists (Remitly). Which one you can use depends on the company. The main send-money guide lists every company, the My Number rule and the ID each company accepts. This page covers the Philippine side.

Cash pickup

SBI Remit pays cash in US dollars or pesos at MoneyGram partner stores. It says about 10 minutes, and some transfers take hours to 2 days. The recipient needs no bank account (SBI Remit). Seven Bank lists more than 14,000 pickup locations, such as SM Malls, Cebuana Lhuillier and M Lhuillier, but only in its Money Transfer App (Seven Bank), and you need a Seven Bank account (Seven Bank). KYODAI, DCOM, Remitly and Instarem also list cash pickup (main guide).

Bank account

SBI Remit pays pesos into 60 banks in the Philippines, as fast as 15 minutes (SBI Remit). Seven Bank lists more than 30 banks, including BDO Unibank, BPI, Metrobank and PNB (Seven Bank). Wise, KYODAI, DCOM, Remitly and Instarem list bank accounts too. Bank deposit rules.

GCash

SBI Remit, KYODAI and Seven Bank name GCash. DCOM, Remitly and Instarem list an e-wallet or mobile wallet without naming it. Your family must already be registered with the wallet. GCash limits.

DCOM lists the Philippines by bank account, e-wallet or cash pickup, paid in pesos or US dollars, and says its methods and currencies can change without notice (DCOM). DCOM’s fee includes the cost of withdrawing the money, so the recipient normally pays nothing there, but a bank that is not one of DCOM’s designated ones may charge (DCOM).

SBI Remit’s and KYODAI’s websites have a Tagalog menu (SBI Remit, KYODAI). Seven Bank’s app is in 9 languages including Tagalog (Seven Bank). SBI Remit also runs a temporary reception center in Osaka for Filipino members, open 9:00 to 16:00 (SBI Remit).

What is the fee for sending money to the Philippines?

The fixed fee runs from ¥400 to ¥2,500, depending on the company and the amount, before any exchange-rate margin. These three companies publish a fee for each amount, and the table shows six of them. Providers are listed in a fixed order, not ranked.

Cash pickup and bank deposit in pesos. Sources: SBI Remit, KYODAI Remittance, DCOM, read October 3, 2026. KYODAI’s GCash bands run up to PHP 100,000. SBI Remit charges more for a bank account in dollars, euros, pounds or yen. The fee is only part of the cost: most companies also add to the exchange rate, and none of these publishes how much. Wise, Remitly, Instarem, Smiles and Western Union do not publish a fixed fee table we could confirm, so check the amount in their apps. Seven Bank’s fee table is on its page. The main guide compares the ¥50,000 fee for every company.

For scale, the World Bank put the average total cost, fee and exchange margin together, of sending $200 from Japan at 7.56% in the third quarter of 2024, against a global goal of 3% (World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide). That is Japan to all destinations, two years old, and not this corridor.

How much can a GCash account receive from Japan?

It depends on the GCash account. SBI Remit lists the 30-day receiving limit by account type, and says it resets on the 1st of each month (SBI Remit).

Seven Bank lists its own caps on top. Its notice, dated 1 December 2024, says at most PHP 50,000 a day to each receiver, and PHP 30,000 a day the first time you send to a GCash account, with a receiver limit of PHP 100,000 a month and a wallet limit of PHP 100,000 to 500,000 (Seven Bank). Check Seven Bank for its current limits before you send. Money your family gets from other senders and cash-ins at payment centers counts toward the monthly limit, so your transfer can be rejected even if it is small (Seven Bank).

If a transfer goes over, Seven Bank’s notice says it is rejected, the money returns to your Seven Bank account in 2 weeks to 1 month, and the remittance charge is not refunded (Seven Bank). At SBI Remit, a transfer to a wallet cannot be canceled, and the recipient must already be registered (SBI Remit).

To register your family as a GCash recipient, SBI Remit asks for the phone number the wallet is registered to (a Philippine mobile number, without the country code), the recipient’s name, and other details such as nationality, address, relationship to you and the reason for sending (SBI Remit).

What are the rules for sending to a Philippine bank account?

SBI Remit allows at most ¥1,000,000 or PHP 500,000 a transfer, at least PHP 10, and PHP 500,000 a day, and says limits can apply below those figures depending on your use (SBI Remit).

How fast the money lands depends on the receiving bank. SBI Remit puts banks in two groups: Group 1 usually within 15 minutes; Group 2 within 15 minutes up to PHP 50,000, usually the next business day above that if sent before noon on a weekday, and the business day after next if sent after noon (SBI Remit). Its bank list says which group each bank is in.

If the receiving account is a non-resident account, SBI Remit’s bank deposit may not work (SBI Remit). Ask your family’s bank which kind of account it is.

What should I check before sending money to the Philippines?

1. Pick the way the money arrives with your family, then the company that offers it (list above).
2. For GCash, ask how much room is left this month. Seven Bank says its monthly limit counts money from every sender. Send less than the room left. If you use Seven Bank, check its current daily cap first: its notice dated 1 December 2024 says PHP 50,000.
3. For a bank, copy the details exactly. Bank name, account name and account number must match, and the account should not be a non-resident account.
4. Check the amount that arrives in the app before you pay, not only the fee.
5. Know what a mistake costs. A rejected GCash transfer is covered under GCash limits. DCOM does not refund its fee on a canceled transfer (DCOM).

The first transfer also needs your residence card and My Number. A residence card issued from 14 June 2026 is refused by some sign-ups: see the residence card verification tracker and the main guide. If you are leaving Japan, the Philippines is on the list of countries with a pension agreement: see the Japan pension refund guide.