Jamm, which aims to realize a free payment society, has completed a fundraising of 496 million yen through third-party allocation with ANRI and XTech Ventures as co-leads, and DG Daiwa Ventures and Riku Sugie (former Paidy CEO) as participants. About "Digital Cash Payment! Jamm" "Digital Cash Payment!
Welcome to the one hundred eighteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. We are going to be a bit policy- and white paper-heavy this week. From a macro perspective, we have included the government's "Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism, 2025 Revised
The 55th General Meeting of the Financial System Council and the 43rd Joint Meeting of the Financial System Subcommittee, jointly held on Wednesday, June 25, reviewed the current status of and the regulatory framework for crypto assets in Japan. The regulatory approach aims to balance user protection with innovation promotion,
The "Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism, 2025 Revised Edition," was approved at a Cabinet meeting on June 13, 2025. It is a comprehensive policy blueprint from the Japanese government outlining its strategy to fundamentally reshape the nation's economy. It presents
The "New AEON Pay" has been launched, combining the legacy AEON Pay and WAON electronic money services, and creating a unified mobile payment platform. Key highlights include: * Expansion to 4.3 million merchant locations (1.4x increase) * Support for approximately 180 local communities through donation features * New promotional
The Japan Cryptoasset Business Association (JCBA) has presented its business report for Fiscal Year 2024 (from April 2024 to March 2025), a period marked by significant transformation and strategic advancement for both the global and domestic digital asset industries. The report (in Japanese) details the association's extensive activities
The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) has submitted three recommendations for the strengthening of market surveillance functions to the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of the FSA: * Expanding insider trading regulations to cover more types of related parties * Strengthening administrative monetary penalties by increasing amounts and expanding scope to
SBI Investment, a subsidiary of SBI Holdings which manages and operates venture capital funds, has completed fundraising for the “SBI Digital Space Fund”, with total capital commitments reaching JPY 100 billion. In March 2023, the SBI Group established SBI PE Holding as an intermediate holding company to oversee its private
Carbon credits are expected to play an important role in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, including providing incentives for decarbonization efforts. With the full-scale operation of the emissions trading system starting from fiscal year 2026, further expansion and diversification of trading is anticipated. Under these circumstances, similar to other financial
Japan's Digital Agency has published its "Data Governance Guideline", which are intended to serve as a comprehensive strategic framework for corporate executives in Japan. Its primary objective is to guide companies in establishing robust data governance practices as they pursue Digital Transformation (DX). The ultimate goal
Digital Garage has begun providing the Business Invoice Payment Service (BIPS) based on the B2B payment service "DGFT Invoice Card Payment" to "DX Connect Gate," a platform for streamlining accounting operations such as invoice receipt and payment, jointly developed by TIS and Hiroshima Bank for regional
nCino, a pioneer in cloud banking and financial services digital transformation, announced that SBI Credit Guarantee has adopted nCino's cloud-based integrated banking platform as the business infrastructure for its mortgage guarantee business that began in April 2025, and has commenced full-scale operations. Background of Implementation SBI ARUHI, the
BaaS
Raksul Bank, which aims to solve financial challenges faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has signed a BaaS (Banking as a Service) usage agreement with GMO Aozora Net Bank, toward the launch of services within 2025. Background and Purpose The Raksul Group has served customers including over 3 million
neobank
The Financial Services Agency held an opinion exchange meeting on financial crime prevention measures with the management of 13 neobanks at the beginning of June. This was conducted against the backdrop of diversifying customer needs and the advancement of cashless payments, where new forms of banks with distinctive business models
banking
Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) announced the establishment of its banking branch in Japan from July 1, 2025. The banking license will enhance Natixis CIB’s service offering in Japan, enabling its Natixis Tokyo Branch to provide a broader range of financial services for clients. Natixis Tokyo Branch has
payment
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of Kadmos Holding GmbH (Kadmos), a global end-to-end maritime salary payments platform provider headquartered in Germany. Founded in 2021 and based in Berlin and London, Kadmos is a rapidly growing technology company that provides innovative salary payment solutions
weekly
Welcome to the - exceptionally late - one hundred seventeenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. At the Monetary Policy Meeting held last week, the Policy Board of the Bank of Japan decided, by a unanimous vote, to set the following guideline for money market operations for the intermeeting period:
web3
Coincheck has entered into a strategic partnership with MynaWallet, a company providing a web3 wallet solution utilizing the Japanese government-issued My Number Card. Prior to this collaboration, Coincheck Group N.V., which is Coincheck’s parent company, made an investment in MynaWallet.
central bank
Pursuant to Article 54 of the Bank of Japan Act, the Bank of Japan submits the "Report on Currency and Monetary Control" to the Diet twice a year. The contents of the report are as follows: * Economic and financial situation * Monetary Policy Conduct and Monetary Policy Tools * Content
private financing
Mizuho Securities, ML Power, a 100% subsidiary of Mizuho Leasing, Blue Sky Solar, and Blue Sky Asset Management have collaborated with lending financial institutions including Orix Bank and Joyo Bank to form a long-term private fund with agri-solar power plants as underlying assets through non-recourse project finance and equity investment.
stablecoin
Simplex has launched its stablecoin issuance and redemption system "Simplex Stablecoin." Stablecoins are payment instruments that possess the characteristics of cryptocurrencies—enabling instant and low-cost transfers—while maintaining stability by pegging their value to fiat currencies. With the amendment of the Payment Services Act in June 2023, which
credit rating
KBRA, a global full-service credit rating agency, announced a key milestone in its continuing international expansion: the opening of a new office in Tokyo, Japan. As the company’s first outpost in the Asia-Pacific region, KBRA’s new base in Tokyo reflects the firm’s exponential growth over the last
capital markets
SMBC Nikko Securities has published its "Corporate Earnings Outlook for 2025-2026," presenting a comprehensive analysis of the Japanese equity market, centered on the firm's proprietary NIKKO250 index, which covers approximately 75% of the total market capitalization of all listed Japanese companies. The outlook revises its forecast
venture capital
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has entered into an investment agreement with AN Venture Partners I, operated by ANV Management, which invests in the biotechnology sector. ANV was established in 2022 with the purpose of creating global biotechnology companies based primarily on excellent research and drug discovery seeds from Japanese universities,