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Today, @Maciamo asked me whether I could recommend any neobanks in Japan. To be honest, I wasn't familiar with the term; neobanks are online banks, digital banks or virtual banks that operate online without any physical presence. They are called ネット銀行 (nettoginkō) or インターネット専業銀行 (intānetto sengyōginkō) in Japanese.
Currently, the following neobanks are operating in Japan:
Nikkei Asia on neobanks in Japan:
We shall update the list of online banks above as more services will become available in Japan.
Currently, the following neobanks are operating in Japan:
- JAL Global Wallet (in Japanese)
- Jibun Bank (operated by au, in Japanese)
- Kyash (in Japanese)
- Neat (HK-based)
- Rakuten Wallet (in Japanese)
- Revolut (UK-based, in English)
- Sony Bank (in English and Japanese)
- Sumishin Net Bank (in Japanese)
- Wise (Transferwise), UK-based (in English)
Nikkei Asia on neobanks in Japan:
Neo banks are financial institutions that offer their services exclusively via technology and are not part of an established large company. Neo banks make use of technology, known as application programming interfaces, or APIs, which allows their customers to share existing financial information held by traditional banks and use that information to access services provided by the neo banks. [...] What this boils down to is that Japanese consumers are still faced with high fees, burdensome processes and the inability to access flexible and convenient services. For example, Revolut's European clients are able to set up accounts in several currencies with a few clicks. In Japan, opening a foreign currency account, particularly for business clients, is often a long process that will require a detailed explanation as to its uses and needs, and may actually not be approved by the bank in the end. Yet, Japanese authorities have been championing digital innovation and progress in financial services for years. The Tokyo Government has been running an innovation competition since 2018 inviting foreign and domestic financial service providers to provide solutions to everyday financial problems faced by Tokyo residents.
Where are Japan's neo banks?
Lack of fintech innovation severely disadvantages consumers
asia.nikkei.com
We shall update the list of online banks above as more services will become available in Japan.
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