Wire transfer

In order to have more of a financial cushion, I initiated a wire transfer of money from my Credit Union to my Japanese bank.  Quite an ordeal.

1.  I went on-line to get the Credit Union form.

2.  I took it to my bank here to get the routing numbers and codes.

3.  I brought it to the office here at the university, and asked if they could FAX it for me.  They did, and indicated that I should check back in a few hours for confirmation that it had been received.  It was received.

4.  I used Google Voice (at one cent a minute) to phone the Credit Union and answer all their security questions.  They had the FAX, and made the transfer.

5.  When I finally got my cash card yesterday, I looked at the balance to see if the funds had been credited.  No.

6.  This morning I went to the bank to enquire (in Japanese).  They showed me the wire transfer form -- it had only "Marguerite Barratt" on it, thus not matching my bank book, "Barratt Marguerite Elizabeth".  I had to fill out a form, in my own writing, attesting to the fact that this was one in the same person.  I made an error as I completed the form, crossed it out with a straight line drawn by ruler, and marked the strike-out with a stamp from my hanko (seal).

At this point they went into Japanese that I could not understand.  I asked them to repeat slowly. I still did not get it, so they had someone in back write it out in English.  They wanted to know what I was going to do with the money?????  I indicated (in Japanese) that I would buy food and drink, and do usual things.  That seemed to be a satisfactory explanation.

After 45 minutes at the bank, they indicated that the funds would be deposited later in the day today!