STRATEGIC PARTNERS
January 23, 2002
TOKYO -- When Japan's biggest retailing group, Ito-Yokado Co Ltd, launch its online IYBank in May, it plans to provide 24-hour service to customers at ATMs located throughout its group network of 10,000 stores, according to a Reuters report.
According to Reuters, IYBank plans to install 3,650 ATMs in about a year and 7,150 ATMs over five years at Seven-Eleven convenience stores nationwide and at Ito-Yokado's supermarket chain outlets.
Customs will be able to pay their bills while withdrawing cash at the same time, according to the report.
Speaking at a news conference, Ito-Yokado President Toshifumi Suzuki said, "The prime factor differentiating our bank is that our service is more accessible and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."
Ito-Yokado will own a 51 percent stake of IYBank with its convenience store subsidiary, Seven-Eleven Japan Co Ltd, owning the remainder.
Ito-Yokado aims to make the banking unit profitable as early as in its second year of operation, generating a large amount of revenue from commissions from other banks when their cardholders make transactions using the IYBanks' ATMs.
The retailer gave no target for revenue, and did not reveal its goals for numbers of accounts or the size of deposits.
Ito-Yokado applied for a banking license in November, but the launch of the bank was delayed, partly because of a disagreement over linking its ATMs with networks run by established banks.
The retailer said it was still in talks with individual banks over details about offering services for each others' clients.
