Japan’s Regional Lenders Tap nCino to Drive Consumer Loan Digitalization
Regional Japanese lenders Hachijuni Nagano Bank and Hiroshima Bank have independently selected nCino’s unified cloud platform to overhaul their consumer lending operations. The software deployments reflect a broader push across Japan's regional banking sector to modernize legacy architecture, eliminate paper workflows, and accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) adoption.
Hachijuni Nagano Bank Overhauls End-to-End Lending with Proprietary AI
Hachijuni Nagano Bank—formed in January 2026 via the merger of The Hachijuni Bank and The Nagano Bank—is consolidating its complete consumer loan lifecycle onto nCino's platform. Under its initial Mid-Term Management Plan (FY2026–2028), the Nagano-headquartered institution aims to build a competitive edge through targeted investments in DX and AI.
The bank previously operated multiple disconnected systems for consumer loans, creating maintenance dependencies on external vendors and slowing system adjustments.
- Unified Operations: Integrates portals for consumers and real estate business partners, bringing intake, screening, contracting, and post-execution management onto a single platform.
- In-House AI Integration: Connects the bank’s internally developed AI screening engine to nCino for real-time credit decisioning, with future additions planned for AI-OCR and AI chat capabilities.
- In-House Capability: Involves the bank’s ~300-person IT department in the project implementation to allow continuous, autonomous system maintenance post-launch.
Hiroshima Bank Targets Sales Transformation Across Consumer Portfolio
Hiroshima Bank, a core subsidiary of Hirogin Holdings, selected nCino as its core consumer lending platform to advance sales process transformation under its Mid-Term Management Plan 2024.
The institution sought to expand capacity across its consumer loan business—including mortgage, apartment, and unsecured loans—by phasing out paper-dependent processes and legacy, siloed systems.
- Centralized Cloud Infrastructure: Unifies the full loan journey from application to contract execution into a streamlined cloud workflow.
- Operational Capacity: Reduces administrative burdens on branch staff, enabling the existing team to manage larger application volumes.
- Value Creation: Reallocates staff time from manual processing toward personalized customer consulting and complex advisory services.
Market Context
nCino (NASDAQ: NCNO) provides cloud banking and agentic AI solutions to more than 2,700 financial institutions globally, serving entities ranging from $30 million to $2 trillion in assets. Both implementations demonstrate growing demand among Japanese regional banks to modernize legacy workflows and improve operational productivity through single-platform architectures.
Norbert Gehrke
