weekly
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
core banking
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
weekly
Welcome to the one hundred sixteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. We are back, and so is the Bank of Japan, with their June Monetary Policy Meeting. While a change in the policy rate is not expected, the Bank will update its plan for JGB purchases starting in April
central bank
Bank of Japan Executive Director Kazushige Kamiyama spoke at the third "Meetup with BoJ", hosted by the FinTech Association of Japan. Introduction Good afternoon, everyone. I am Kamiyama from the Bank of Japan. Thank you very much for this valuable opportunity to speak with all of you who
neobank
NTT Docomo has launched a tender offer for SBI Sumishin Net Bank (SSNB), and the latter has resolved at its board of directors meeting held on Thursday, May 29, 2025 to express its opinion in support of the tender offer, and to recommend that the SSNB's shareholders tender
payments
JR West has launched its new payment service "Wesmo!" under the brand concept "Moving is Value," after becoming the first domestic railway operator to register as a Type II funds transfer service provider under the Payment Services Act. The company has previously provided the J-WEST credit
open banking
MUFG Innovation Partners (MUIP), an investor in Moneytree, today announced that Moneytree has signed a basic agreement with MUFG Bank and its consolidated subsidiary WealthNavi regarding the acquisition of Moneytree’s shares. MUFG Bank, WealthNavi, and Moneytree have expressed their intention to proceed with discussions in accordance with the provisions
corporate venture capital
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has announced its decision to further strengthen its strategic capital and business alliance with Asuene, with the aim of accelerating decarbonization in Japan and on a global scale. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Asuene have agreed that “Sustana”, a cloud service provided by SMBC to support
stablecoin
JPYC announced that their previously issued prepaid payment instrument "JPYC Prepaid" will be treated as an electronic payment instrument starting June 1, 2025, following the required transition period after the amended Payment Services Act took effect on June 1, 2023. Handling of "JPYC Prepaid" from June
payments
PayPay will begin offering the virtual card "PayPay Balance Card," which can be issued on the PayPay app and used at online credit card member merchants. The "PayPay Balance Card" can be used at domestic online shopping and content websites that accept Visa credit cards, with
payments
Digital Garage (DG) and its subsidiary handling payment services, DG Financial Technology (DGFT), have been jointly developing the next-generation payment platform "NESTA" with au Financial Services. The implementation of "NESTA" into the payment processing system for au/UQ mobile communication fees will begin within 2025. This
venture capital
Headline Asia has closed its fifth and largest fund to date, Headline Asia Fund V, at USD 145 million. The fund will support a new generation of founders building in high-growth sectors including e-commerce, logistics, FinTech, IP and artificial intelligence—domains where Asia is setting new global standards. Headline Asia