Sony Bank (Japanese: ソニーバンク） Is A Japanese Commercial Bank Affiliated With Sony Financial Holdings, A Subsidiary Of Sony Corporation. It Was Established In 2001 And Was Jointly Funded By Sony And Sumitomo Mitsui Bank. Sony Bank Operates Without Physical Branches And ATMs, And Is A Type Of Direct Bank. The Main Business Of The Bank Is To Provide Foreign Currency Deposits, Trust Investments, Home Loans And Other Businesses Through Online Banking.
History
Japan Liberalized Regulations Restricting The Banking Industry In The 1990s, Allowing Some Companies To Enter The Financial Industry For The First Time.
Sony Encountered Challenges When It Ventured Into The Banking Industry. At The Beginning Of Its Establishment, The Internet Was Not Really Popular In Japan Compared To The United States. At That Time, Only 24 Million People Were Using The Internet Every Month. But Sony Believed That With The Improvement Of The Infrastructure, The Internet Would Become Ubiquitous. The Company Announced That The Pace Of Entering The Banking Sector Would Coincide With The Company's Transformation From Traditional Manufacturing To Entertainment Industries Such As Movies And Music.
Sony Announced In March 2000 That It Would Establish A Banking Division, Which Was Officially Launched On June 11 Of The Following Year. The Company's Initial Capital Was 37.50 Billion Yen And It Had 80 Employees. Within An Hour Of Starting Operations, 340 Customers Had Opened Online Accounts. At That Time, The Bank Offered Yen Deposit Accounts, Trust Investments, Credit Card Loans And Electronic Financial Transfers. The Bank Expects To Open Foreign Currency Deposit Accounts, Credit Cards, Home Loans In 2002, And Allow Customers To Borrow Japan Post's ATMs For Business.
After Opening, The Bank Faced The Problem Of Weak Profitability Until 2005.
By 2007, Sony Bank Had Accumulated 500,000 Customers And Planned To Collect Online Commissions That Year.
In 2011, Sony Bank Planned To Expand Its Business To The Australian Market, But The Plan Was Eventually Abandoned In 2013.
Ownership
At The Beginning Of The Bank's Establishment In 2001, Sony Corporation Owned 80% Of The Equity. By 2005, Sony's Ownership Had Risen To 84.2%. After JPMorgan Chase Sold Its Stake, Sony Corporation Owned 87.4% Of The Bank.
Sumitomo Mitsui Bank Owned An Initial 16% Stake In Sony Bank And Allowed Sony Bank Customers To Operate Through Its 7,600 ATMs. By 2005, Sumitomo Mitsui Bank's Stake Had Fallen To 12.6%.
JPMorgan Chase Owned 4% Of The Bank When It Was Established. JPMorgan Chase Hopes To Expand Its Asset And Wealth Management Business In Japan. By 2005, JPMorgan Had Reduced Its Stake To 3.2% And Sold All Of Its Holdings That Year After Negotiating With Sony
