Mizuho Bank Ltd. and unit AO Mizuho Bank (Moscow) amended their business cooperation agreement with PAO Sberbank of Russia to include the area of financial innovation in the scope of the agreement.

Under the amended business agreement, the banks will be exchanging information, providing mutual technical support and adopting the latest innovations to improve customer service, according to a Dec. 14 release. The amendment is effective Dec. 13.

Mizuho signed a business cooperation agreement with Sberbank in September 2011 but the areas covered only included investment banking and commercial banking. With growing attention paid to financial technology, the bank felt the need to amend the agreement to include financial innovation.