By YUKI KUBOTA/ Staff Writer
March 30, 2023 at 13:18 JST
The headquarters of Mizuho Financial Group Inc. in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward (Eisuke Eguchi)
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and messaging app operator Line Corp. will scrap their plan to open an internet bank apparently due to external factors, including heightened competition in the online banking market, sources said.
Mizuho had hoped to use “Line Bank” to reach younger customers through the free messaging app, which is very popular among young people.
According to sources connected with Mizuho, the company will hold a March 30 management meeting where the decision to scrap the plan will be made official.
The two companies in November 2018 announced the plan to open Line Bank in fiscal 2020. They each have 50 percent of voting rights in a preparatory company set up to open the internet bank.
But delays in developing an online banking system forced them to push back the opening to fiscal 2022.
Internet banking has become much more widespread since the plan for Line Bank was first hatched, and competition between online banks, including over fees, is increasingly fierce.
Mizuho and Line apparently felt it would be difficult to gain the benefits they initially hoped for, industry experts said.
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