- The new service includes remittances and is aimed at those from foreign countries living in Japan
- It aims to reduce the complexities of carrying out basic banking tasks in the country, and will use Optical Character Recognition technology
- “Sony Bank is committed to meeting our customers' diverse needs and making their banking experience convenient and easy”, the bank said
Japanese giant Sony has announced that it will be launching a new English language version of its popular banking service.
Sony Bank said that the new service, which will be in English and will permit users to open a bank account of their own, will be aimed at foreign residents living in Japan.
The service will offer a remittances function, and will simplify some of the more complicated parts of the current standard banking processes in Japan.
It will utilise a technology called Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for the digital conversion of information.
According to a press release from Sony, the new move comes in the context of a rise in the number of people from abroad living in the major East Asian economy.
One calculation made in June 2019 found that there are now 2.82 million such people in the country, which is a rise of 7.3% from the year before that.
A survey which Sony Bank carried out revealed that three-fifths of those who answered were not happy with the service offered to them by existing Japanese providers.
There are understood to be many significant impediments to carrying out basic banking tasks.
“The most commonly cited reasons for this lack of satisfaction included complicated paperwork and procedures, the need for hanko seals, and a lack of language support”, the press release said.
“When asked what services they would like from banks in Japan, the top response from foreign residents was the need for online banking and being able to conduct everyday banking transactions without having to visit the bank in person”, the release went on to say.
The firm also went into more detail about the processes behind its decision to launch the new app.
“Taking into account Japan's internationalization and needs of the expatriate community, Sony Bank decided to establish a new English smartphone app that would take the hassle out of opening an account in Japan and allow account holders to make everyday banking transactions online”, it explained.
“The new service makes banking simple for non-Japanese residents, including a dedicated English smartphone app that uses cutting-edge OCR technology…to make the account opening process quick and easy, without the need for complicated paperwork”, it added.
It finished on a positive note.
“Sony Bank is committed to meeting our customers' diverse needs and making their banking experience convenient and easy”, it said.
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