Good morning all, hope your post-hump day highs have hit!

I finally hit month 7 of living in Japan on my student visa and can finally apply for a non-Yucho bank.

The two I'm looking at right now are SMBC and Sony Bank, both for their English support and ability to get a debit card rather quickly. Line Pay says they're going to remove their debit card eventually, and I don't want to get caught flat-footed on my phone bill.

I'm curious to hear what people think of them, or if there are any other standouts I should look at. So far the pros and cons I have for both are:

SMBC

Pros:

One of the "big four" so I can reliably set up auto-payments/transfers from my account

English support

Phone app

Cons:

Confusion between SMBC and SMBC Prestia

Prestia doesn't have as many services/flexibility as regular SMBC (?)

Sony Bank

Pros:

Full English support

Foreign exchange/multi-currency support

Good for transferring money to and from my account in foreign currencies

Some free transfers/withdrawals

Cashback on debit card

Cons:

Online only

Apparently requires much more personal information for remittances/transfers overseas than other banks (?)

Thanks much for reading, and have a smooth ride til 花金!