(12 January 2017 – Europe) A Japanese e-commerce conglomerate and fintech investor revealed plans to launch a commercial banking operation in Europe.
From its Luxembourg headquarters, Rakuten is seeking to provide banking-as-a-service facilities to high growth fintech businesses across Europe, after initially providing payment, deposit and loan services for merchants in France.
The firm already has an established retail and commercial customer base of 3.8 million account holders in Japan.
Rakuten’s head of fintech businesses, Masayuki Hosaka, said: “With Rakuten Europe Bank, we aim to provide banking services in Europe that will parallel the successes of the Rakuten Group’s Fintech businesses in Japan.”
In November 2015, Rakuten established a US$100 million (A$133 million) fintech fund targeting early to mid-stage startups in Europe and North America. Companies the firm has invested in thus far include Currency Cloud, Azimo, Payoneer, BlueVine and Kreditech.