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The phone number, ID card and bank account loop

Chloé Tremblay 🌱 Newcomer
29 Aug 2026, 02:38

Japan edition of the chicken-and-egg problem! When I arrived I needed a residence card (got it at the airport, yay), then an address registration at the ward office, then a bank account, which wanted a phone number, and the phone contract wanted a bank account. For about ten days I had neither.

In the end a colleague took me to a phone shop that accepted a credit card from home, and then the bank accepted my new number. But I've heard so many versions of this loop from people in other countries. How did you break yours?

6 replies

Joy Villanueva ⭐ Helpful member
31 Aug 2026, 00:46

Canada was kinder to me: a prepaid phone plan needed nothing, and the bank accepted it straight away.

Tariq Mahmood ⭐ Helpful member
1 Sept 2026, 05:28

Prepaid SIM, bought at the airport, broke the loop for us on day one.

Jimmy 🏆 Community expert Admin Premium
3 Sept 2026, 18:45

The phone, ID and bank loop is one of the most common first-week traps, and the way out is almost always a prepaid option or a home-country card, as Chloé and Joy found. The Digital Services section of each country guide lists what's usually needed for each step, for example the Digital Services section for Japan, including which part tends to come first.

Mei Chen ⭐ Helpful member
5 Sept 2026, 08:57

Buying a prepaid SIM at the airport is now the first item on my arrival list.

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Marco Rossi 🏆 Community expert
8 Sept 2026, 06:20

Colleagues who take you to the right shop are worth more than any guide, including this one.

Elena Popescu 🏆 Community expert
11 Sept 2026, 11:00

Ten days with neither phone nor bank sounds like my first fortnight exactly.