STRATEGIC PARTNERS
December 19, 2001
TOKYO - Japan's Chiba Bank has become the fourth bank to reach a partnership agreement with automated banking service IYBank, according to the Nikkei English News Service. The agreement will allow Chiba customers to access their accounts through IYBank's ATM machines, located at Ito-Yokado retail outlets and 7-11 stores.
Sanwa Bank, Asahi Bank, and Shizuoka Bank have also agreed to link their systems to IYBank, which is operated by Ito-Yokado. IYBank has no branch outlets, doing all of its business through 24-hour ATM machines. The concept was launched in 58 Ito-Yokado and 7-11 stores in the Tokyo region; company officials plan to have more than 1,600 ATMs in the Tokyo and Osaka areas before the end of the month.
Without a traditional bank structure to fall back on, IYBank officials plan to make the company profitable through commissions generated through ATM usage-the key being that IYBank's ATMs are accessible 24 hours a day.
"Unlike other conventional banks, we will not try simply to increase the number of customer accounts or boost outstanding amounts of deposits," IYBank president Takashi Anzai told Japan Times in May.
"As the number of our ATMs grows, more customers will come to start using our machines," Anzai said.
The company, as part of its strategy, has urged regional banks throughout Japan to enter into partnership agreements. Chiba Bank has 420 ATMs, located primarily in Chiba Prefecture, but none operate round the clock.
The IYBank-Chiba Bank agreement goes into effect next February. By the end of March, IYBank hopes to have ATMs installed at more than 500 of 650 7-11 stores in the prefecture, according to the Nikkei English News Service.
