Japan FinTech Observer | Tontines | ex-Goldman & Barclays Tech MD
credit card
JCB Cards are now available as a payment method for the App Store and Apple Services in Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. Customers can now use their JCB Cards to pay for purchases on the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV app, iTunes, iCloud storage
embedded finance
Digital Garage has decided to launch "Musubell Insurance," an embedded insurance solution that enables online completion of fire insurance applications when purchasing real estate, as a new service of "Musubell," which allows electronic document creation/management and centralized online status management for real estate transactions. This
crypto
In light of the current state of cryptocurrency transactions, the Financial Services Agency has been examining the state of systems related to cryptocurrencies, as outlined in the Financial Administration Policy for Fiscal Year 2024. They have compiled the results of that examination in the form of a discussion paper released
corporate venture capital
KDDI has joined forces with independent venture capital firm Global Brain Corporation to establish the KDDI Open Innovation Fund V, a fund that will invest in companies that have the potential to become seeds for KDDI's new business ventures, particularly in fields such as AI and DeepTech. Since
venture capital
FactBase and its group companies announce have raised a total of 1.45 billion yen in Series B round through third-party allotment of shares and share transfers to Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Mizuho Capital, Resona Capital, and others. About Fact Base Under the vision of "Creating an order-receiving platform where
venture capital
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has concluded an investment agreement with MobiSavi, which operates an EV data utilization business using EV performance prediction technology. In recent years, addressing climate change and environmental issues has become an urgent global priority, and the adoption of EVs is advancing worldwide as a means to
Insurance
MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings has reached an agreement to sell all of its shares in Challenger Limited, an Australian financial services company with annuities and fund management businesses listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, amounting to 15.1% of the issued shares, to a group subsidiary of Dai-ichi
venture capital
UTokyo Innovation Platform (UTokyo IPC) has made a limited partner investment in the “Vertex Ventures Japan Fund I,” managed by Vertex Ventures Japan (VVJ). The investment was made through the Academic Startup Acceleration Fund (ASA Fund), operated by UTokyo IPC with support from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government under its startup
weekly
Welcome to the one hundred sixth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. What a week, eh? According to our friends at Goldman Sachs, the TOPIX’s 11.8% decline over the six trading days from Friday, March 28, to Friday, April 4, 2025, is the 35th largest decline since 1968,
insurtech
Yamada Small Amount and Short-Term Insurance (Yamada SASTI) has implemented the Finatext's SaaS digital insurance system "Inspire" and launched the "Digital Device Expense Compensation Insurance (Pet name: Yamada Comprehensive Lifestyle Insurance)". As digital device prices such as smartphones become increasingly expensive, there is a
sustainability
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank has made an impact equity investment in the "Japan Hydrogen Fund", a fund established by the Japan Hydrogen Association in cooperation with Advantage Partners that specializes in investments in hydrogen-related areas. SuMi TRUST Bank will utilize a capital surplus from April 2022 that was
broker/dealer
The total number of SBI Securities financial product accounts intermediated through Sumitomo Mitsui Card and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has exceeded 1 million, and the monthly investment amount for "Sumitomo Mitsui Card Regular Investment" has exceeded 85 billion yen. Since June 2021, Sumitomo Mitsui Card has partnered with