Insurance
justInCase, a small amount and short-term insurance provider recently acquired by Sony Financial, has begun selling "Simple Hospitalization Insurance", a medical insurance plan that allows customers to accumulate 1% of the insurance premium in Ponta points, through "Ponta Easy Insurance" offered by Loyalty Marketing. "
fintech
Money Forward, with a fiscal year that runs from December to November, reported fiscal year 2024 results last week. While these numbers came in largely in line with expectations, the forecast for fiscal year 2025 rattled investors. The shares went "limit down" on Wednesday, and continued sliding on
KYC
ELEMENTS has resolved to acquire shares of Polarify, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, making it a consolidated subsidiary. SMBC Group will continue to maintain ownership of Polarify shares. The business integration of these industry leaders will expand their customer base to approximately 550 companies with a cumulative total
social lending
Gojo & Company announced that the global non-profit organization B Lab Global™ issued a "B Corp™" certification for Gojo as of January 2025, demonstrating its dedication to creating a positive effect with its business activities. SATYA, Ananya, and Prayas in India, alongside seven other group companies of
cards
JCB International has launched a new JCB Panda Card in collaboration with Taiwan Rakuten Card. Taiwan Rakuten Card was established in 2014 with the approval of the Financial Supervisory Commission to enter the Taiwanese domestic credit card market, becoming the first e-commerce platform in Taiwan to issue its own
capital markets
The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has signed an MOU with Authentic Indication which works in improving the execution environment for block trades through provision of Indication-of-Interest (IOI) services. By using the IOI platform provided by Authentic Indication, investors can research demand for block trades without disclosing their own
blockchain
Komainu has raised $75 million in strategic investment from Blockstream Capital Partners, subject to relevant regulatory approvals. Komainu was launched in 2018 as a joint venture between Japanese bank Nomura, crypto security experts Ledger, and digital asset investment manager CoinShares. The funding enables Komainu to accelerate its international strategic growth
banking
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), in collaboration with SMFL MIRAI Partners (SMFL MP), a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing, has released a new finance scheme for supporting capital investment in semiconductor manufacturing equipment. In this new scheme, SMFL MP will leverage its expertise in the valuation of semiconductor
crypto
Metaplanet's positioning as the "Japanese MicroStrategy" is quite well understood at this point. CEO Simon Gerovich laid out their strategy very clearly during the WebX 2024 conference: Enter Remixpoint, a new player who has been actively investing in cryptocurrencies. The company initially invested 5 billion yen
payments
Filipino travelers to Japan can now enjoy expanded cashless payment options at over 3 million merchants, thanks to a new collaboration between GCash, Alipay+, and PayPay. This partnership allows GCash users to seamlessly pay via QR code at a wide range of businesses, from bustling city centers like Tokyo and
blockchain
The three blockchain-related companies under Sony Group, Sony Block Solutions Labs, S.BLOX, and SNFT, have announced the launch of the "Soneium" mainnet, along with an updated version of cryptoasset exchange services and an NFT issuance platform. As creators' activities diversify in the future, content on
banking
In October 2023, Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank) officially signed an agreement to transfer SeABank’s full capital contribution at Post and Telecommunication Finance Company Limited (PTF), which is 100% of PTF’s charter capital, to AEON Financial Service, the financial arm of the AEON Group, Japan’s