Armed with the mission of bringing convenient, high quality financial products and services, Sony Bank was established in 2001 as an online bank for individual customers in Japan. It is part of the Sony Financial Group, which is wholly owned by Sony Group Corporation.
Operating under the concept of “Borderless Digital Banking for More ‘Fun’”, Sony Bank plans to remain in step with emerging technologies to better serve customer needs. To that effect, it aims to deliver cutting-edge Web3 experiences to its customers by leveraging its intellectual property in the fields of music, film, anime and games, created across Sony Group’s entertainment companies.
For its strides in Web3 adoption and for rolling out suitable initiatives for its customers, Sony Bank took home three awards at the Global Retail Banking Innovation Awards 2024, hosted by The Digital Banker, in Singapore. During the event, Sony Bank was recognised as the Best Digital Bank – Japan, and received the honours for Outstanding Blockchain Initiative by a Retail Bank and Outstanding Innovation in Digital Banking.
Making digital banking more fun
Driven by its concept, Sony Bank has leveraged blockchain technologies to deliver new and innovative digital banking services, including a Web3 entertainment app, non-fungible token (NFT) promotion and security token offering, as the first bank originator in Japan.
With preparations commencing in 2022, Sony Bank began selling digital securities for the first time in Japan in July 2023, and since then, has been continuously releasing unique digital securities products. These security tokens are backed by Sony’s own real estate loan assets as well as green bonds denominated in US dollars.
To bring Web3 entertainment straight to its customers, the bank released the app ‘Sony Bank CONNECT’ in July 2024 – a secure and stress-free mobile application with functions such as an NFT viewer connected to Sony’s NFT marketplace, an NFT widget allowing users to display their favourite NFTs on their home screens, 3D gallery rooms which can be freely decorated, as well as notifications for NFT entertainment.
Sony Bank has successfully acquired new customers through its Web3 initiatives, attracting blockchain non-native users into the world of NFT.
Promotional activities included the distribution of NFTs during the live event of JUJU, one of the most famous Japanese singers, signed under Sony Music. For its Security Tokens, the bank distributed NFTs of a tree growing up and blooming in the course of the maturity of the Security Token backed by green bonds. For eSports, the bank collaborated with EVO Japan, one of the world’s largest fighting game events held in Japan. It also led a PR collaboration with the producers of the Hollywood film, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
Overall, with the release of Sony Bank CONNECT, customers can now enjoy NFTs anytime, anywhere, and in more familiar surroundings. The app also enables customers to skip the hassle of registration and enjoy a borderless experience across various services.
Sony Bank plans to collaborate with various Sony Group companies through Sony Bank CONNECT.
