Seven Japanese regional banks will set up a financial technology joint venture as early as June, as they seek to find new earnings sources and improve efficiency amid ultralow interest rates in the country, The Nikkei reported May 25.
The seven banks are Senshu Ikeda Bank Ltd., Gunma Bank Ltd., San-in Godo Bank Ltd., Shikoku Bank Ltd., Chiba Kogyo Bank Ltd., Tsukuba Bank Ltd. and Fukui Bank Ltd. Each bank will hold a little over 14% stake in the proposed joint venture.
The joint venture will use artificial intelligence technology to help identify eager corporate borrowers and explore technologies for online banking and robotic process automation, the publication reported.
