Nomura goes quantum in asset management space
Launches joint research project with Tohoku University in Sendai.
Japan
Japan Exchange Group goes live on Cinnober’s clearing and risk solutions
Launches new clearing system for exchange traded derivatives, based on Cinnober’s tech.
Moven lands investment from SBI, ponders bank acquisition
SBI and Moven to set up a joint venture to bring the latter’s tech to Asia and Asia Pacific.
Softbank seeks to steal PayPal’s plunder
A rival digital payments system?
Hackers steal $534m from Coincheck cryptocurrency exchange
But it will compensate more than $423 million to 260,000 users who lost out.
NTT-AT to distribute Trusona ID tech in Japan
Will offer Trusona’s password-less login solution to its enterprise customers across the nation.
JCB tests multipurpose biometric authentication
in collaboration with Universal Robot and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.
Cryptocurrency start-up Telcoin courts mobile finance firms
Looking to ride the wave of interest in cryptocurrencies, Telcoin is also hoping to raise funds from an ICO.
Fujitsu and Sensory are the face of biometrics for Mizuho
Fujitsu has teamed with Silicon Valley-based Sensory to provide face biometric authentication for Mizuho’s mobile banking. Mizuho is the first customer of the Fujitsu and Sensory partnership and it will be using TrulySecure. This solution’s features include the option to fuse voice and face biometrics recognition together; and it works with Android, iOS, Linux and […]
Fujitsu to trial blockchain payments with three Japanese banks
Fujitsu will work with Mizuho Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) to conduct a joint field trial of a person-to-person (P2P) money transfer service using blockchain. The trial will begin in January 2018 and last for about three months. Fujitsu says it has already initiated development of the […]
Saxo Bank Securities in Japan warms to Torstone’s Inferno for regulatory reporting
Japan-based Saxo Bank Securities has selected Torstone Technology’s Inferno to replace its legal ledger and comply with regulatory reporting requirements. It will initially use Inferno to improve its post-trade reporting processes and is looking to add additional features in future unspecified phases. Torstone says Inferno is a modular solution, giving organisations the “opportunity to incrementally […]
Top fintech stories this week – 29 September 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Japanese banks to launch new national digital currency
A consortium of Japanese banks has confirmed they are to launch a new national digital currency in time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. As Banking Technology reported last week, there was talk about plans to establish this currency by 2020. At that time, the name was mooted to be J-Coin. Now, and according to the […]
Japanese regulator and banks plan shared ID system on blockchain
The Financial Services Agency of Japan and some of the nation’s banks are planning to develop a shared identification system on blockchain. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, consumers will be able to open accounts at multiple banks and financial houses without having to re-enter personal information. The first step will see an administrative body […]
Japan embraces fintech’s hard-boiled wonderland
Banks and politicians in Japan are getting ever more energetic for fintech with grand plans for APIs, artificial intelligence (AI), digital currencies, blockchain, funding for start-ups and an easing of regulations. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) will launch a website on Monday (25 September) for makers of smartphone […]
Hitachi creates IoT focused big data company Vantara
When we hear Hitachi two things come to mind; 80s style radio and construction vehicles. This might be a perception the team will want to address as Hitachi enters the internet of things (IoT) world, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Combining the capabilities of three separate brands, Hitachi Data Systems, Hitachi Insight Group, and […]
BitFlyer competes for Japanese Bankers Association’s blockchain experiment attention
Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange BitFlyer has been selected as a partner vendor to provide an experimental environment for the Japanese Bankers Association’s “collaborative blockchain platform”. BitFlyer’s proprietary blockchain technology – Miyabi – will be used and the platform is scheduled to begin operation in October. Miyabi is a private blockchain “exclusively” for enterprise users. The experiment […]
Japanese start-ups fire up in force
The land of the rising sun is seeing a rising number of start-ups power up as they hunt for fintech glory. According to Nikkei Asian Review, 46 tech companies have gone public in Japan so far in 2017, with the full-year total seen reaching 80 to 90. The highest tally in the last decade was […]
Mizuho primes for financial crime with IBM Watson time
Mizuho is testing out new ways of risk management and dealing with financial crime by using IBM Watson’s cognitive technology. The plan is to use the Watson-powered software, which runs on the IBM Cloud, to analyse a range of data sources, including retrieving news sources and extracting data using screening technologies, that were previously done […]
Flywire expands operations in Japan, forms partnership with Volvo
Cross-border payments and receivables platform Flywire (formerly peerTransfer) is marking international growth.
Fujitsu in blockchain-powered payments breakthrough
Fujitsu Laboratories says it has accelerated transaction processing for Hyperledger Fabric, one of the Hyperledger blockchain frameworks hosted by the Linux Foundation. In its latest development, Fujitsu says the processing of communications between applications and the blockchain platform, which had been the source of bottlenecks, is now “more efficient”. In a trial where this technology […]
Softbank gets hard for data-powered AI
“Those who rule chips will rule the entire world. Those who rule data will rule the entire world. That’s what people of the future will say.” The words of Softbank’s founder and CEO Masayoshi Son, who was bigging up his company at a presentation in Tokyo and laying down some future plans that artificial intelligence […]
Payments firm Episode Six expands to Tokyo
Payments software technology provider, Episode Six, is opening an office in Tokyo to meet “the growing demand” for fintech solutions in Asia. The company also announced that payments and finance industry veteran, Oko Okamoto, will oversee Episode Six’s new Tokyo office as general manager. Episode Six, which launched in 2016, offers payments software platform technology […]
Mizuho trials Australia-Japan trade transaction on blockchain
Mizuho Financial Group, Mizuho Bank, trading and investment firm Marubeni Corporation, and Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance have completed a trade transaction between Australia and Japan using blockchain. The participants say all trade-related processes, from issuing the letter of credit to delivering documents, were completed entirely via a digital platform in this project. (See image below […]
Japan and Australia regulators to co-operate on fintech
The Financial Services Agency of Japan (JFSA) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will work together to promote innovation in financial services in Japan and Australia. Both have completed a framework and they will share information and support the entry of fintech firms into each other’s markets. ASIC says this framework will “help open […]
Top fintech stories this week – 9 June 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Mizuho goes open banking on IBM cloud
Mizuho Bank has opted for a suite of IBM services to power its open banking ambitions in Japan. The bank will use IBM’s FinTech API solution, API Connect on the IBM Cloud and IBM DataPower Gateway. The shift to API banking is a common theme for many in fintech at present. According to IBM, the […]
R3 powers Japan’s blockchain derivatives prototype
R3 and four Japanese financial institutions (FIs) have joined forces to use blockchain in a derivatives prototype test. Nomura, Daiwa Securities Group, Mizuho, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and R3 have tested a prototype developed using Corda, R3’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform based on blockchain, to streamline International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement […]
Mizuho ventures deeper into fintech
Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group will start a venture next month to create new fintech businesses and catch up with its rivals, according to Reuters. As Banking Technology reported last month, Mizuho Financial Group, Mizuho Bank and IBM Japan teamed up to build a blockchain-based trade financing platform – and so edged commercialisation ever forward. So […]
SoftBank finally wows with $93bn investment fund
SoftBank has announced its first major close with $93 billion of committed capital, and the promise to hit $100 billion within six months, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). While it has been circulating in the news for some time now, it should be worth noting this is the largest private equity fund ever raised, […]
Sumitomo Mitsui gets all chatty with AI
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) and its partners have unveiled an automated chat service using artificial intelligence (AI) to offer guidance to customers in Japan. SMFG is working with SMBC Nikko Securities, NTT Communications, with support from Accenture Japan, and their service will become available on 25 May at SMBC’s contact centre to improve its […]
Tokyo turns up volume in foreign fintech talent hunt
With its shrinking population and its growing interest in fintech, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) has turned to Accenture to support recruiting companies find the right stuff from abroad. According to Japan’s health ministry, the nation’s population is expected to fall from 127 million to 88 million in 2065, dropping further to 51 million by […]
Temenos expansion plans turn to China and Japan
Temenos is looking to conquer the core banking software markets of China and Japan.
All go for Mizuho and IBM blockchain-powered trade finance
Mizuho Financial Group, Mizuho Bank and IBM Japan have teamed up to build a blockchain-based trade financing platform – with commercialisation edging ever forward. With the platform, Mizuho is aiming to “make it easier” for parties involved in the supply chain, including exporters, importers, shippers, insurance companies, port operators and port authorities, to “share critical […]
The Monday mindset: 24 April 2017
Fintech zeitgeist! Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week, Banking Technology’s deputy editor Antony Peyton looks at whether Japan’s rules rule. If you’re a billionaire (which I assume isn’t all of […]
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 3 April 2017
Another day, another cryptocurrency. A concise round-up of blockchain and Bitcoin events. Features Japan, Lykke, ChronoBank and London’s Imperial College Business School. It’s the land of the rising sums, as Bitcoin is now a legal payment method in Japan. As a result, Bitcoin trades rose today – at 11am (UK time) it was up 2.8% […]
Singapore and Japan set up fintech framework
The Financial Services Agency of Japan (JFSA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have established a co-operation framework for fintech links between both countries. The framework enables MAS and JFSA to refer fintech companies in their countries to each other’s markets. It also outlines how the referred companies can initiate discussions with the regulatory […]
UK and Japan regulators partner for innovation
The Financial Services Agency of Japan (JFSA) and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have exchanged letters on a co-operation framework to support fintech companies. This deal will provide a regulatory referral system for “innovator businesses” from Japan and the UK seeking to enter the other’s market. The authority that receives such a referral will […]
Japan applies AI to market surveillance operations
Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and Japan Exchange Regulation (JPX-R) revealed that they have been reviewing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies developed by NEC Corporation and Hitachi to improve market intelligence operations.
Mizuho takes another step towards blockchain adoption
Japanese financial services provider Mizuho has partnered with Cognizant to test cross-border document sharing and custom digital currency applications of blockchain – and the cost implications of using the technology. Mizuho says the project was a success and concluded that a tamper-proof distribution database built using blockchain could support a platform to share information and […]
