Minna Bank to Commence Operations in May 2021 as Japan’s First Digital Bank

Minna Bank, Ltd. today announced they have acquired a banking license on December 22, 2020, from the Financial Services Agency of Japan and will commence commercial operations in May 2021.  A wholly-owned subsidiary of Fukuoka Financial Group, Inc., Minna Bank represents FFG’s digital growth strategy.

As Japan’s first Digital Bank, Minna Bank’s services are designed to cater to the needs and sensibilities of digital natives – a segment traditionally underserved by the financial services industry.  “Minna” means “Everyone” in Japanese and exemplifies the bank’s ethos of inclusiveness.  Minna Bank’s services are exclusively and entirely accessible by smartphone, where customers can easily open an account and deposit, withdraw and transfer funds 24/7.

Minna Bank will run on a next-generation banking system developed in partnership with Accenture and running on Google Cloud.  Running entirely on the public cloud – a first in Japan – Minna Bank will deliver an entirely new and technologically advanced banking experience. Minna Bank’s core banking system will not only run its retail operations but will also be made available to third parties who wish to leverage the highly flexible system to power discrete embedded finance offerings or even run comprehensive branded banking services.

“Minna Bank’s mission is to ‘Deliver valuable connections to everyone,” said Koji Yokota, President, Minna Bank, Ltd. “Together with our partners, we will widely offer our banking system as a service (BaaS).  We have built our system based on the ideas of digital natives and flexible API architecture, making it possible for everyone to create and deliver embedded finance offerings.  We aim to be a pioneer in this space, and plan to deliver this cloud-native banking system to Asia and other regions of the globe.”

“Customers want an on-demand experience from their banks that is automated, seamless, and easy-to-use. We’re proud to work with Minna Bank which is embracing the cloud as an early adopter in the Japan financial services industry, and building its core banking systems on Google Cloud for innovation, speed, and scalability,” said Rob Enslin, President, Google Cloud.

“As consumers increasingly manage their lives using digital technology, banks’ legacy systems make it difficult to provide highly personalized services and connect to diverse ecosystems,” said Alan McIntyre, head of Accenture’s global banking industry group. “Minna Bank’s cloud-first approach provides human-centered products and services that deliver more value; Accenture is helping it deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity – allowing the bank to emerge as an industry leader.”