Japan's Daiwa Securities Group Inc. and Credit Saison Co. Ltd. will purchase minority stakes in each other as part of a capital and business alliance, with the goal of utilizing each other's network and jointly developing new financial services.
Daiwa Securities will acquire a 5.01% stake in Credit Saison, while the credit card company will invest buy about ¥2 billion worth of the brokerage's shares. The Nikkei reported that Credit Saison will invest the money for a roughly 0.3% stake in Daiwa Securities. The publication also reported that the companies will jointly develop smartphone cashless payment services in Japan.
It is the first capital alliance between a Japanese brokerage and a credit card company, and comes amid growing competition from non-financial firms such as Line Corp. in the cashless payments sector. It also follows Mizuho Bank Ltd.'s decision in August to end its strategic business alliance with Credit Saison.
As of Sept. 4, US$1 was equivalent to ¥106.22.
