News

Japanese banks upping ATM initiatives

April 13, 2004

TOKYO - Japanese banks are launching multiple new programs aimed at improving customer service, including 24-hour and other enhanced ATM services.

According to a report in Asian Banker, more banks are providing 24-hour ATM services, often in convenience stores, and sometimes for free during promotional periods.

UFJ, which plans to keep a third of its ATMs on round-the-clock, hopes the service will boost earnings by attracting more customers.

Sumitomo Mitsui is geared to set up advanced ATMs in AM/PM stores, while Mitsubishi Tokyo is to set up ATMs in Lawsons, another convenience store chain. The ATMs will feature expanded services such as account openings, money transfer and bills payment.

Convenience stores in Japan are more like all-purpose department stores than merely snack stops, considering the amount of goods and services that they provide. The services to be offered at ATMs are the same ones that occupy 60 percent of regular in-bank counter service, according to Asian Banker.

Extended banking hours are also part of the plan to better service customers and to reduce branch congestion. Resona Bank has been considering extending closing hours from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in all of its branches, with some banks being open as late as 7 p.m. Sumitomo Mitsui has already set up six branches in urban centers that will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on holidays. The bank plans to increase the number to 100 branches eventually. 

UFJ, vowing that it will reduce customer waiting time to 10 minutes or less, is offering a Web-based service that reports on the length of lines at its ATMs that customers can access from computers or their web-enabled cell phones.