Sony Bank, Inc. (ソニーバンク, ソニー銀行) is a Japanese commercial bank established in April 2001. It has no physical branches or ATMs; all procedures are done online or by telephone. It is a subsidiary of Sony Financial Holdings and a member of the Sony Group. The Sony Group is considering extending this subsidiary into and updating for the Australian market.^[1] Foreign currency deposits, investment trust, and home loans make up the bulk of transactions.

History [edit]

A reduction in regulations encouraged a number of companies to enter the banking sector for the first time.^[2]

Sony faced challenges as it began Sony Bank. In 2001, when Sony Bank was founded, Web use was limited in Japan as compared with the United States.^[3] Only 24 million people used the Internet every month at that time.^[3] Still, the company remained hopeful that infrastructure would improve.^[3] Sony claimed its move into banking went hand-in-hand with its shift from a manufacturing focus to a focus on content such as films and music.^[4]

Sony announced its new banking unit in March 2000.^[5] The bank started doing business on June 11, 2001.^[3] The company began with ¥37.5 billion^[5] of capital. It had around 80 employees at the time.^[4] It added 340 online accounts during its first hour of operation.^[3] At the time, the company offered yen-deposit accounts, investment trusts, card loans, and bank payments.^[3] It hoped to expand into foreign currency deposit accounts, credit cards, and housing loans by 2002.^[3] It also hoped to allow its customers to use automated teller machines from the Japan Post.

In 2001, Sony Bank hoped to accumulate 400,000 customers by 2004.^[4][3] In February 2001, the company had hoped to accumulate $5.2 billion in deposits;^[4] it adjusted that figure downward to $4.1 billion in deposits three months later.^[3] In February 2001, the company aimed to gain $8.6 billion in deposits by 2006.^[4] Analysts at the time were generally upbeat about the prospects for the bank. Raymond H. Graber of TowerGroup suggested the bank could synergize with the other operations of Sony Financial.^[3] Still, Paul Jamieson of Gomez Advisors warned that customers would have high expectations for Sony Bank, given Sony's existing reputation for the ease of use and elegant design of its products.^[3]

Shigeru Ishii served as the first president of Sony Bank.^[6]

As of 2005^[update] the company faced weak earnings.^[7]

By 2007, Sony Bank had accumulated 500,000 customers.^[8] That year, Sony planned to add an online brokerage.^[8]

Ownership [edit]

Upon the bank's founding in 2001, Sony owned 80% of the company.^[3] By 2005, its stake had risen to 84.2%.^[7] When JP Morgan Chase sold its stake, Sony increased its ownership to 87.4%.^[7]

Sumitomo Mitsui owned a 16% initial stake in the company and allowed Sony Bank customers to access its 7,600 automated teller machines.^[3] It had reduced its share to 12.6% by 2005.^[7]

Upon the bank's founding in 2001, JP Morgan Chase owned a 4% stake in the company.^[3] JP Morgan had hoped to expand its asset and wealth management services in Japan.^[3] The company reduced its ownership to 3.2% by 2005.^[7] It sold off its entire stake in 2005, claiming to have discussed the move with Sony in advance.^[7]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Sony Bank