SBI Shinsei Bank, Limited

JR Kyushu and SBI Holdings announced on September 25 that they will jointly develop a financial super app, tentatively named "JQ BANK," aiming to begin offering it during fiscal 2027. The plan assumes JR Kyushu will obtain a banking agency license with SBI Shinsei Bank as its affiliated bank, and it will leverage SBI Shinsei Bank's functions for banking and SBI Securities' functions for the securities segment. The financial platform underpinning JQ BANK will extend to crypto assets, FX, and stablecoin payments, with AI agents and media features also under consideration. Building on existing customer bases such as JR Kyushu Web members, the transit IC card SUGOCA, the JQ CARD credit card, and the JR Kyupo point service, the companies are considering offering perks tied to JR Kyushu Group services in station buildings, real estate, hotels, retail, and dining based on customers' use of financial services. Preferential mortgage rates are also under consideration, with JR Kyushu positioning itself not as a creator of financial products but as the holder of the gateway connecting finance and customers.

The Digital Currency Innovation Institute, a general incorporated association working to standardize tokenized deposits, held a press conference in Tokyo on September 25 and announced it will begin full-scale operations on October 1. Former Administrative Vice Minister of Finance and lawyer Eijiro Katsu will serve as representative director, former Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will serve as executive advisor, and Hiromi Yamaoka, former head of the BOJ's Payment and Settlement Systems Department and chair of the predecessor Digital Currency Forum, will serve as deputy representative director. The institute was formed by reorganizing and developing the Digital Currency Forum, which was launched in 2020, and was established as a corporate entity in July this year. It aims to establish common rules for systems that tend to differ from bank to bank and to expand use in inter-company remittances and payments. The institute will operate through three committees: a banking committee, a technology committee, and a user committee, and its directors include executive officers from major financial institutions such as SBI Shinsei Bank, GMO Aozora Net Bank, and MUFG Bank. Regarding DCJPY, Japan Post Bank will maintain its plan to issue it during fiscal 2026, while Hokuriku Bank plans to move toward commercialization in its payment business, and more than 40 companies have so far decided to join the institute or are considering doing so.

NOT A HOTEL announced on the 6th that it has completed transactions totaling 16.5 billion yen in its Series D round. It raised 10 billion yen through a third-party allotment of new shares, with Toyota Invention Partners, SBI Holdings, SBI Investment, Sequoia, and TT Lion Partners as the subscribers. A 6.5 billion yen share transfer from existing shareholders to the subscribers was also executed. The company will promote a new business called NOT A GARAGE centered on a capital partnership with Toyota Invention Partners, while the SBI Group will consider offering partnership loans for buyers through SBI Shinsei Bank.

SBI Shinsei Bank announced on the 5th that it will establish a new framework to collaborate with more than 20 regional banks on large-scale financing deals. The bank will consider syndicated loans worth around 100 billion yen in areas such as M&A, data centers, and renewable energy. Fourteen regional banks have already decided to participate, including Joyo Bank, Ashikaga Bank, Sanju San Bank, Tottori Bank, and San-in Godo Bank, with about ten more expected to join by the end of August. The aim is to expand revenue opportunities for regional banks and help strengthen their management.