Public Money-Receiving Account: Registration System
2023.03.10
Today’s post is about Japan’s public money-receiving account registration system. The system allows citizens to register an account at a financial institution to receive payments from the government.
Registering these subsidy accounts under a person’s MyNumber account simplifies the process of receiving government payments to bank accounts, especially in times of emergency. Since there is no need for an application form or copies of bankbooks, delivering the funds is simpler and runs into significantly fewer barriers.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many citizens ran into issues that prevented them from accessing the much-needed government relief funds of 100,000 yen per person for an extremely long time. Thus, the Digital Ministry prioritized connecting the public money-receiving account with MyNumber accounts to ensure prompt and reliable payment in normal and extraordinary times.
In addition to the emergency benefits, the public money-receiving account can also receive pensions, child allowances, income tax refunds, and other benefits.
Since it is a relatively new system, I will address a few common concerns below:
The public money-receiving account is solely for receiving federal and local government benefits, not for paying them. Furthermore, the balance and transaction details of the account are not shared with the federal or local government.
When an individual is under investigation for criminal activity, tax fraud, or social security funding issues, the administrative agencies will go through the individual’s account balance and transactions in accordance with legal procedures. The legal procedures are identical regardless of whether or not the individual has registered for a public money-receiving account and MyNumber card.
You can register for a public money-receiving account via the MyNumber Portal or your income tax return account.
Compared to the working-age population, the number of older citizens registered for a public money-receiving account is significantly lower and lagging.
To amend this issue, we proposed a special-exceptions bill to adjust the system so that the elderly population’s public money-receiving account and other benefits can be combined with their pre-existing pension accounts.
To proceed with this proposal, we will send a letter by mail to those with registered pension accounts to confirm that they agree to tack the public money-receiving account onto their pre-existing pension account. If an elderly person does not wish to have his or her account registered as a public money-receiving account, they are welcome to reply as such. After a period, apart from those that decline, pension accounts will automatically be combined with a public money-receiving account.
Even if a person initially decides to combine their pensions account and Public Money Receiving Account, they can change or delete their accounts anytime.
We at the Digital Ministry hope that this registration method that does not rely on technology will further our mission of making all generations’ lives easier to navigate and access government benefits.
