Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket
What excites you about the affiliate marketing industry and its direction? Are there any new innovations we will see from you in the coming months?
At Editorialist, we love that we can utilize the affiliate links offline at our brand partner shopping events. As we look to the new year, we’re excited to continue onboarding new partners to our SHOP Catalog experience and to further expand our network of luxury brand and retail partners.
Editorialist has become the premium luxury shopping destination and our Editorialist SHOP pages have become highly sought-after resources for all our HNW + UHNW shoppers to find the season’s best pieces from their favorite brands and retailers, with Rakuten Advertising x Affiliate playing a significant role.
Additionally, Editorialist’s Luxury Talent Collective has been central to some of our most successful partnerships to date and we’re incredibly excited about the combined power of our talent network and .COM SHOP destination. Editorialist’s IRL events are another area of tremendous growth for the company, with numerous shopping-first events on the horizon as we enter 2024, where Rakuten and our affiliate links will be pivotal in driving revenue for Editorialist and our partners. Thus far, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of success across these three core pillars, with many more innovations to come in 2024, and affiliate marketing x Rakuten is at the forefront of the rising potential of each of those pillars.
Why did you choose to partner with Rakuten Advertising?
Editorialist comes to Rakuten Advertising for their strategic expertise in affiliate marketing. We believe that Rakuten is a true leader in the field, offering data-driven insights and an ecosystem with the largest network of global partners that aligns with our business model, core values and overall revenue goals. The Rakuten team has been an incredible partner of ours. We feel that the level of customized service and the solution-oriented approach the team takes makes working together a truly collaborative partnership.
https://blog.rakutenadvertising.com/insights/...otlight-editorialist/
Vicky Karantzavelou 15.11.2023
All these new vehicles, 100% electric, will be operating in Madrid, in the Vecttor fleet, available for private users and companies that decide to use Cabify to move around the city in a sustainable way. Among the categories where these vehicles will be available is ‘Cabify Eco’, the exclusive category for companies, that has only electrified vehicles (hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and 100% electric), but they can also be found in the categories ‘Cabify’, ‘Kids’ or ‘Plus’, among others.
The models chosen were Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD, Kia eNIRO Concept, Citroën ë-C4x Shine, and Hyundai Ioniq 5 of 168 kW. All of them are zero-emissions, 100% electric vehicles, with a range in urban use of more than 400 kilometers and technical characteristics and sizes suitable for passenger transport. Thanks to the incorporation of these cars, the emission of 1,700 tons of CO2 per year and the consumption of more than one million liters of fuel will be avoided.
https://www.traveldailynews.com/...-for-cabify-s-operations-in-spain/
The affiliate marketing industry’s dynamic evolution and the promising direction it’s headed in continue to excite us. At What excites you about the affiliate marketing industry and its direction? Are there any new innovations we will see from you in the coming months?
The affiliate marketing industry’s dynamic evolution and the promising direction it’s headed in continue to excite us. At 55Haitao, we’re enthusiastic about several trends and innovations:
Resilience in Strong Verticals: Despite economic challenges, we’re witnessing a resurgence in top-performing verticals like beauty and fashion. This resilience underscores the industry’s adaptability and potential for growth.
Thriving Asian Communities: The unwavering demand from Asian communities in North America is a testament to the affiliate marketing’s strength. We anticipate further growth in this segment, creating opportunities for our advertisers.
Live Streaming Revival: We’re thrilled to announce the return of our Live Streaming campaign. This interactive format has proven highly effective for advertisers, and we’re eager to build on its success.
Influencer Recruitment: Our commitment to recruiting influencers, from nano to macro, for 55Haitao and 55Haitaoshop, remains unwavering. This initiative will empower advertisers to collaborate with influencers of varying reach, expanding their reach and impact.
Why did you choose to partner with Rakuten Advertising?
We chose to partner with Rakuten Advertising for several compelling reasons that set you apart from other affiliate networks:
1.§Exceptional Service: Rakuten has consistently been our top choice of network due to the outstanding service provided to Publishers. The Publisher Development and Client Services teams have consistently delivered superb support, ensuring our needs are met effectively.
2.§Technological Advancements: Rakuten’s dedication to innovation ensures we have access to cutting-edge tools and solutions.
3.§User-Friendly Reporting: The reporting tool offered by Rakuten is notably user-friendly. Its intuitive interface makes it easy for us to navigate, extract insights, and make data-driven decisions.
https://blog.rakutenadvertising.com/insights/...r-spotlight-55haitao/
December 08, 2023
Rakuten Mobile has announced that Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications approved its application for allocating the "platinum" 700 MHz frequency band to its mobile service. "Platinum band" refers to the range of low frequencies which enable radio waves to travel further to reach a wider range of locations, from underground to indoors. Check out the video for clips from the ceremony held at the offices of the ministry and comments from the executives in attendance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3_hyKYkkCI
PUBLISHED FRI, DEC 8 202310:58 AM EST Arjun Kharpal
Mikitani told CNBC that he believes mobile will be “one of the most profitable businesses” for Rakuten. The CEO said the number of net subscribers in its mobile businesses is increasing by 200,000 per month.
“I think it’s just a matter of time,” Mikitani said of the mobile businesses path to profitability, although he declined to give a timeline.
“Once you overcome the breakeven point, everything will become your gross profit, which is unlike other businesses,” Mikitani said.
“This is going to be hugely profitable. Within five years, everybody will say, ‘oh my god, that was a genius decision.’ Because our operating costs are a fraction of our competitors. I don’t think they can compete against us because our cost structure is so efficient.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/08/...europe-as-debt-overhangs-firm.html
Complement: because the variable costs tending against zero, near all costs are fix.
PUBLISHED FRI, DEC 8 202310:58 AM EST Arjun Kharpal
To service the debt, Rakuten has been selling down its stakes in businesses as well as issuing shares to raise money. This week, Rakuten announced it would sell shares in Rakuten Bank, one of its financial services companies, in a move that raised about 60.6 billion yen. This reduced Rakuten’s stake in Rakuten Bank from 63.34% to 49.27%.
Earlier this year, Rakuten Group issued new shares that raised more than 290 billion yen.
When asked if Rakuten can service its debt, Mikitani said: “Of course, no problem at all.”
“Our business is really in a good shape. We cut down the operating costs of Rakuten mobile by 15 billion yen per month … now every single business is growing nicely in terms of top line and also bottom line, we have a very strong confidence from the banks,” Mikitani told CNBC.
“I think we are going to come up with a more creative way of financing and so forth,” Mikitani said about paying off the debt. “So, I have no doubt, no worries at all.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/08/...europe-as-debt-overhangs-firm.html
Two years ago, two companies came together and made a promise to collaborate on a project they envisioned would make history.
On August 4 2021, 1&1 and Rakuten agreed to a far-reaching partnership to build Europe's first fully virtualized mobile network based on Open RAN standards. The network functions were to be integrated by Rakuten Symphony – launched that same day by Rakuten Group – an organization with a mission to accelerate the adoption of cloud-native, Open RAN-based mobile networks worldwide, based on key learnings from building the Rakuten Mobile network in Japan.
After just 28 months, 1&1 have launched Europe’s newest mobile network and the continent’s first and only fully virtualized 5G Open RAN mobile network.
Building a network of the future
Upon signing the agreement, Rakuten Symphony set out to assemble its team in Germany for 1&1. After establishing a local Rakuten Symphony entity based in Dusseldorf dedicated to the 1&1 project, the two companies brought together more than 80 vendor partners from around the world to take part in the endeavor.
A global ecosystem of vendor partners is deployed in the 1&1 network. Unlike conventional mobile networks, 1&1 is designed on Open RAN standards, which separates software from hardware in the radio access network (RAN). The antennas in 1&1’s Open RAN environment are not controlled on-site at radio masts like in a traditional network but are software-based and run in a private cloud that 1&1 operates on commercial off-the-shelf servers in hundreds of decentralized edge data centers.
Early returns
In addition to building a nationwide 5G network across Germany, 1&1 was also required to provide fixed wireless access (FWA) service by December 2022. FWA is similar to fixed broadband services run by 1&1, but doesn’t use the cable or fiber that runs directly to a home and connects to a modem, instead requiring a “fixed” antenna at the home that connects to the surrounding wireless infrastructure.
In July 2022—just 11 months after forming the partnership—1&1 and Rakuten celebrated initial tests of the Open RAN-based 5G network, hailing a resounding success following FWA connectivity tests with “friendly users” under “real conditions” and with “real customer behavior”. 1&1 noted that the results had surpassed expectations, achieving downstream speeds of more than 1Gbit/s and stable data transfers, with about 8 terabytes of data per customer transferred within 24 hours.
Even more impressive, 1&1’s Michael Martin, CEO of the network business, shared at Rakuten Optimism 2022 that while testing network responsiveness with the online game Minecraft achieved three milliseconds of latency. Martin told the audience: “That’s close to the theoretical maximum you can get.”
Later that year, on December 28, 1&1 officially launched its initial FWA service to consumers in Frankfurt am Main and Karlsruhe and plans to make FWA services available in cities such as Hamburg, Essen, Düsseldorf, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Munich and Freiburg over the next few weeks.
https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...e-first-open-ran-mobile-services
December 11, 2023
https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2023/1211_01.html
December 11, 2023 at 3:09 am
Rakuten plans to launch an LLM to enhance the operational efficiency and marketing activities of Japanese technology conglomerate Rakuten plans to launch its proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) language model. The initiative aims to enhance the operational efficiency and marketing activities of the company.
The company is known for its diverse businesses, ranging from banking to e-commerce and telecommunications, and possesses a substantial volume of unique data that will be utilized to train its large language model (LLM).
The LLM — a huge algorithm trained on extensive datasets and tailored to specific information, will allow the company to support AI applications across diverse functions.
Rakuten plans to implement the AI model for internal usage, to improve operational efficiency and marketing by 20%. Moreover, the company plans to extend the accessibility of the model to third-party businesses, adopting a strategy similar to that of industry giants such as Amazon and Microsoft. As a result of a strategic move into AI, Rakuten representatives anticipate substantial profitable growth.
While there is currently no specified launch timeline, an announcement regarding the LLM is expected in the coming months.
https://mpost.io/...-large-language-model-for-operational-efficiency/
According to our latest study, due to COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine War influence, the global eReader market size was valued at USD 812.6 million in 2021 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 854.4 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 0.7% during review period.
Global eReader key players include Amazon, Kobo(Rakuten), etc. Global top 5 manufacturers hold a share over 90%.
Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/news/...ast-till-2031#ixzz8LbMkWVBD
Published Dec 07, 2023
https://financialpost.com/pmn/...-globally-through-fall-2023-plugfest
Major Vendors in the Global Private 5G Market:
•§Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
•§Nokia Corp.
• Samsung §
•§ZTE Corp.
•§Deutsche Telekom
•§Juniper Networks
•§AT&T Inc.
•§Verizon Communications
• Altiostar §
•§Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
• Mavenir §
•§BT Group
•§T-Systems International GmbH
•§Cisco Systems
•§Vodafone Ltd.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...rket-projected-reach-084500479.html
“I am sure that every single telecom company are now seriously contemplating to deploy open radio access (network), the question is when and how,” Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani, CEO of Rakuten, told CNBC in an interview that aired Monday.
Mikitani said Rakuten will help launch more full-scale commercial Open RAN networks in 2024, but declined to say how many. He said the number of launches will be “single digit.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/08/...europe-as-debt-overhangs-firm.html
2 days ago
Things are out; experiences are in. But what does this mean for e-commerce?
Prominent social critic Tsunehiro Uno serves as editor-in-chief of commentary magazine PLANETS, and has authored numerous publications on modern society. He joined Rakuten’s Ryo Matsumura on the stage of the recent Rakuten Optimism business conference in Yokohama to discuss the changing nature of consumption.
Goodbye things, hello experiences
“The discourse around things has changed quite a lot since our youth in the consumption-driven era of the 80s and 90s,” Uno told the audience. “During Japan’s bubble economy, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see people walking around clad in an Armani suit, with a Rolex peeking out from their sleeve. It was a symbol of the times. If you did that today, people would think you’re stupid or shallow.”
In the 21st century, youth culture has undergone a clear shift away from materialism in favor of something more akin to minimalism, Uno argued. “Today, it’s cooler not to have things… things have lost the power they had at the end of the last century.”
So where did our desire for things go? First, Uno said, one needs to look out how that desire originally came about.
“What defined Japan’s consumption society was that people started buying not just things that they needed, but things that they wanted.”
no has published works including “Slow Internet”; “Imagination in the Age of Zero”; and “The Age of Little People”.
As the Japanese economic miracle rolled into the 1970s and 80s, many discovered the joys of having disposable income. A similar trend had swept Western economies as early as the 1920s, but in Japan, the idea of shopping as leisure – as a form of self-expression – only caught on as recently as around 40 years ago.
“From there, people drove up demand for better things. The consumer gained influence,” Uno explained. “Consumption became a very powerful force. The idea that you could go into town and buy whatever you wanted was a new thing for people in Japan, and it was special. Today, it’s a given. But then, it was special, and therefore powerful. It was even seen as a symbol of Japan’s economic abundance and freedom.”
Even amid the political movements of the 60s and 70s, Japan’s consumer culture continued to gain momentum.
“The act of consuming things and having fun started being treated as an almost intellectual activity, rather than something mindless. A polished, cultural experience.”
Beyond ownership: The age of experiences in modern Japan
Today, however, everyone carries the entire internet in the palm of their hand, and owning things is going out of style. So what is everyone consuming instead?
“They’re consuming experiences,” Uno explained. “We’re now in the age of social media, and experiences rule. Suddenly, the old obsession with things is considered uncool.”
Travel, concerts, gourmet meals, unforgettable nights out – more and more young zoomers are opting to open their wallets for intangible products. Uno sees a range of factors driving this cultural shift.
“A move towards lifestyle minimalism, sustainability, the sharing economy – these are all ideas that prompt us to reconsider our thing-oriented society of the previous century. A self-examination about how perhaps having too much stuff isn’t good for the soul,” he ventured. “Sustainability highlights how having all this puts a burden on the environment. The sharing economy comes from both of these ideas, suggesting that we should share the things that we have. That’s the philosophy that is taking center stage.”
But the biggest factor? The rise of social media, and how it encourages users to flaunt their experiences.
“Because now everyone can broadcast themselves. Humans are strange – rather than listening to the interesting stories of others, everyone wants to tell their own stories, no matter how boring. It feels good,” Uno laughed. “Before the internet, the only audience you had were your family and friends. The power of the internet lifted that restriction.”
What this means for e-commerce
“What role do things have to play in the information age?”
With zoomers increasingly opting for experiences over material goods, is e-commerce in danger of becoming irrelevant? Uno argued that no, things still have a role to play, particularly among those pushing back against the social media-dominant culture.
“Some people are circling back to things as a way to distance themselves from this new experience-dominated society,” he said. “Powerful things can shut out the social media noise, if only temporarily. There will always be things that can beat out experiences, depending on the situation and quality. I think there is demand for a platform that can offer these things.”
Uno highlighted the ideas of Meiji University philosopher Takashi Kurata, who argues that the intimacy of folk crafts will become more important than ever in a society tired of mass-produced goods.
“He says that we need to normalize making things. This was the ideal of the early internet – anyone could write things, or publish photos,” Uno said. “But there’s no way most people go out of their way to make something. Plenty of people are happy to eat a delicious meal, but they’d never cook. You need serious motivation to make something.”
Rethinking e-commerce for changing values and connections
At the same time, e-commerce platforms must adapt to this changing culture to give shoppers more of a human touch.
“E-commerce is fun in its own way. But today’s e-commerce platforms seem to be focusing all their energy on efficiency,” Uno said, encouraging the audience to remember the excitement they first felt shopping online with vast inventories at their fingertips. “Having that kind of inventory is taken for granted today.”
He compared the e-commerce world with that of physical retail in the 20th century – departments and supermarkets that evolved to suit the needs of white-collar housewives.
“It was a product of the industrial society. Now, with e-commerce, our family values, gender attitudes and working styles are all changing, and I think we need to update how we sell things.”
Uno lamented the overbearing role that recommendation algorithms have come to play in our lives.
“I don’t think these recommendation algorithms are very good. They only ever serve us things they think we already want,” he remarked. “The recommendations we really need are for things we’d never search for ourselves but would want anyway. The AI we have now unfortunately can’t do this. This is somewhere that humans will still have to work hard at.”
It all comes back to human connection
The rise of the experience economy is a product of our desire to feel connected to society, Uno argued. A never-ending desire for online approval from others has left us desperately trying to tame the everchanging algorithms and highlight our grand experiences.
“Part of the problem of how Web 2.0 has evolved is that it connected humans too much,” he ventured. “Social media is a game of satisfying each other’s need for approval. I think the battle lies in whether we can build something that can break out of that game.”
While an algorithm-optimal post on the timeline may perform well in the short-term attention economy, real, long-term change can only be realized by ambitious lifestyle changes.
“Until we all became employees in this labor-oriented economy, it was a lot more normal for people to be making and selling things. It’s a question of how we can reintroduce that into modern society,” Uno pondered. “Today, people talk about the booming gig economy. Everyone says they’re helping out at some smug startup. I’m not talking about that – I’m talking about running your own small e-commerce business. We need more of that.”
While working at a big, global company has its allures, Uno argued that real social connections can be found much closer to home.
“I think it’s crucial that we recognize how people are looking to connect with society once more on a more local level,” he told the Optimism audience. “Running a small business allows you to connect with the world. I think people need to give this another chance.”
https://rakuten.today/rakuten-innovation/...z-experience-economy.html
December 12, 2023
Did you know that Rakuten Mobile has been working to support foster care facilities in Japan? It introduced a unique corporate mobile plan so foster children can more easily own a smartphone, and it is currently in use in over 30 facilities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BIkgEnav9M
Wichtig ist, dass wir die derzeitige, von einem Oligopol geprägte Struktur der Mobilfunkindustrie hinter uns lassen."
Entscheidend dafür sei "die Trennung von Software und Hardware" – also Open-RAN. "So wollen wir demokratisierte Netze schaffen", erklärt Mikitani. "Heute wird die Technik dahinter von wenigen etablierten Unternehmen kontrolliert. Diesen Zustand zu überwinden ist unsere wichtigste Herausforderung. Ich bin mir sicher: Unser Geschäft wird schon in wenigen Jahren sehr, sehr profitabel sein. Wir bauen Netze zu einem Bruchteil der üblichen Kosten."
Zahlreiche Projekte weltweit
Es gebe rund 20 Open-RAN-Projekte auf der ganzen Welt, an denen man derzeit arbeite, so Mikitani. Einzelheiten will er nicht nennen. Großes Interesse gebe es vor allem aus den Schwellenländern. "Es geht auch um Anbieter, die derzeit von chinesischer Mobilfunktechnologie abhängig sind. Sie wollen eine Alternative haben, da sie Sicherheitsbedenken hegen."
https://www.heise.de/news/...tisierte-Netze-mit-Open-RAN-9571664.html
December 12, 2023
Make Up Stars, the new talent show produced by RTVE Play in co-production with Rakuten TV and Mega TV, is looking for the next great make-up professional. The show, hosted by Pilar Rubio, premieres on RTVE Play on 19 December and on Rakuten TV, one of Europe’s leading streaming platforms, on December 31st.
Make Up Stars is a talent show that brings the universe of professional make-up and beauty closer to the viewer. The show, hosted by Pilar Rubio, features eight contestants who compete with the help of glitter, eye shadow and blusher to become the next best make-up professional. The production, born from an idea by Develovers, aims to discover the next best talent in the make-up and beauty industry, showcasing make-up as a form of artistic expression and always promoting the skill of the participants.
https://advanced-television.com/2023/12/12/...s-dec-31-on-rakuten-tv/
December 15, 2023
Rakuten Group, Inc. (Head Office: Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Chairman and CEO: Hiroshi Mikitani, hereinafter “the Company”) announces that Rakuten Securities Holdings, Inc. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President: Yuji Kusunoki, hereinafter “Rakuten Securities Holdings”), a consolidated subsidiary of the Company, has agreed to make an additional transfer (hereinafter the "Share Transfer") to Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yoshiro Hamamoto) for approx. 29.01% of common stock of Rakuten Securities, Inc. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Yuji Kusunoki) owned by Rakuten Securities Holdings, as previously described in “Announcement Regarding Strengthening of Strategic Capital and Business Alliance between Rakuten Securities Holdings and Mizuho Securities”, published on November 9, 2023. The share transfer was completed on December 15, 2023.
Following this, out of the total gross transaction amount of approximately JPY 87 billion, the Company received approximately JPY 67 billion in dividends from Rakuten Securities Holdings after a deduction of approximately JPY 16 billion as a settlement of the “group aggregation tax effect amount” among the “group aggregation companies” under the Japanese group aggregation tax system, etc., and approximately JPY 4 billion of related tax expense that will be a cash-out from the Rakuten Group. The Company also announces that this falls under the requirements for submission of extraordinary reports based on Article 24-5, Paragraph 4 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, and Article 19, Paragraph 2, Item 12 of the Cabinet Office Ordinance on Disclosure of Corporate Affairs, etc.
Summary of dividends
(1) Amount of dividends: Approximately JPY 67 billion
(2) Date of receipt: December 15, 2023
(3) Name of consolidated subsidiary: Rakuten Securities Holdings, Inc.
Impact on financial results
The above dividend income will be recorded as non-operating income in the Company's non-consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending December 2023. As these dividends are from a consolidated subsidiary, there will be no impact on the Company’s consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending December 2023.
https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2023/...2520ir%2520fintech
Bei Rakuten France stehen wir an der Spitze dieser E-Commerce-Revolution. Unser Marktplatz enthält alle Funktionen, die erforderlich sind, um eine qualitativ hochwertige Benutzererfahrung zu bieten. Unsere Verkäufer, wie z. B. DNVBs und ONVBs, nutzen die erhöhte Sichtbarkeit unserer Plattform und alle fortschrittlichen Marketing-Tools, um einfach und effizient zu verkaufen.
In der Tat ist unsere Community von mehr als 12 Millionen Käufern bei Rakuten bereit, Ihre Produkte zu entdecken! Mit nur wenigen Klicks haben Marken Zugang zu diesen Käufern sowie eine effiziente Logistik und sichere Zahlungslösungen. Ein wirklich ganzheitlicher Ansatz, der es DNVBs und ONVBs ermöglicht, sich auf ihr einzigartiges Wertversprechen und ihre Produkte zu konzentrieren, während sich unser Marktplatz um die operativen Aspekte kümmert.
Es wird erwartet, dass die Einzelhandelswelt in den kommenden Jahren weiterhin durch den Aufstieg von Multichannel und das Aufkommen neuer ONVBs und DNVBs geprägt sein wird. Und ohne auf diese vielversprechende Zukunft zu warten, gilt es, heute zu handeln: Wollen Sie sich auf Ihre Kundenbeziehung konzentrieren? Haben Sie den Ehrgeiz, intelligent zu wachsen, ohne Ihre Kosten zu erhöhen? Und sind Sie bereit, an dieser digitalen und Multi-Channel-Revolution teilzunehmen, die für Verbraucher so attraktiv ist?
https://global.fr.shopping.rakuten.com/actualites/...onvb-definition/
https://aktien.guide/kursziel/Rakuten-JP3967200001
Japan's best bank for digital solutions 2023: Rakuten Bank
December 07, 2023
Following a notable period of growth for Japan’s largest bank by customers, Rakuten Bank wins the best bank for digital solutions award this year.
In April 2023, the bank was spun-off from parent Rakuten via an IPO, raising $625 million. The deal was the country’s largest IPO since 2018 and the culmination of a successful period in which the online lender accumulated more market share than any of its competitors by number of clients.
This year saw the bank’s number of accounts surpass 13.73 million, with deposit balances exceeding ¥9 trillion ($61.4 billion).
It recently became the first internet bank to offer reverse mortgages, for example. In a country with an aging society, releasing equity from owned properties is an important service but has traditionally only been provided through face-to-face sales with a limited number of regional banks.
The bank also became the only internet bank in the country to offer inbound payment services for tourists.
https://www.asiamoney.com/article/...ital-solutions-2023-rakuten-bank