INTERVIEW
Japan’s top internetonly bank seeks to scale Taiwan’s bank industry
Rakuten International Commercial Bank has ambitious plans in Taiwan, according to local CEO Kazuhiko Saiki.
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nlike many of the region’s new neobanks, Taiwan’s first digital-only bank to launch, Rakuten International Commercial Bank has a strong ace up their sleeve: their parent company has been running a successful digital-only bank in Japan for over 20 years. “Our strong point is that we know what we should do thanks to our 20 years of banking experience, and at the same time we also know what we should not do,” Kazuhiko Saiki, CEO of Rakuten International Commercial Bank in Taiwan, told Asian Banking & Finance in an interview. “In Japan, Rakuten Bank is one of the biggest internet-only banks. We have more than 10 million customers, and we are already making a lot of profit.” Saiki was there during the beginnings of Rakuten Bank. He left a successful career in business, advertising and marketing that took him all the way to Singapore at the behest of a friend, who wanted to start an internet-only bank at a time when such a thing was still a novelty in Asia. As a result, it could even be said that he has one the longest internet-only banking careers in the world, Saiki remarked.. But whilst they plan to use their past experience to guide them in this new venture, Saiki noted that they will still ensure that services are localized based on the needs of Taiwan customers. Another ace up their sleeve is Rakuten’s extensive network of companies within the group as well as partners. Customers can expect to enjoy an ecosystem where they can enjoy rewards and other services from their ecommerce platform in the future. What are Rakuten’s reasons for launching a digital-only bank in the Taiwan market? The government decided to offer two licenses to new digital or internet-only back. This is the first time in about 28 years that new banks will launch in Taiwan, because the last time that the government decided to offer new banking licenses was 20 or so years ago. So this is a very historical moment, and that is why we had this exciting chance to get into the Taiwan market. Whilst Rakuten is doing business all over the world, Taiwan offers one of the biggest potentialities to enhance our business. In the year of 2008, Rakuten e-commerce started here in Taiwan, followed by the launch of Rakuten Car in 2014, followed by another business unit, our e-book business, amongst others. After Japan, Taiwan offers one the biggest opportunities as it already has one of the biggest complete Rakuten ecosystems in operation, compared with other countries. So we have two reasons for launching the bank: first, the 12 ASIAN BANKING AND FINANCE | JUNE 2021
In Japan, Rakuten Bank is one of the biggest internet-only banks, with more than 10 million customers
Kazuhiko Saiki, CEO, Rakuten International Commercial Bank Taiwan
Taiwanese government wanted to offer our new banking licenses. At the same time, we thought Taiwan has one of the biggest Rakuten Broxton ecosystems existing amongst countries all over the world. Using the ecosystem, we believe that it is easier to enhance our business in the market, that is why we focused on the Taiwan market and also why we applied for a [banking] license from the government. What is Rakuten Commercial Bank’s edge over other banks in Taiwan? Rakuten International Commercial Bank is a purely internetonly bank. Here in Taiwan, the banking market is very mature. At the same time, their IT industries are also very mature and developed. Many people think that it should be easy to combine these two things. But from our 20 years experience in Japan, we know that it is not that easy. If you take a look at all over the world there are only a few profitable internet-only banks. Because if you just combine banking business and IT business, that doesn’t automatically make a successful bank. In Japan, Rakuten Bank is one of the biggest [internet-only banks]. We have more than 10 million customers, and we are making a lot of profit. So what we will do here in Taiwan is similar to what we did in Japan. This means that we should know the nature of an internet-only bank, how to operate it,
