A name change for NCB with an 'e' or 'i' prefix along with a SFTB release stating their Internet consumer banking strategy sounds like an idea to me. That should give it a resurrective POP!
Sony details plans for consumer banking ...
Thursday, March 9, 2000
NET BANK: Sony Outlines Plans For Online Banking
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Sony Corp. (6758) has revealed its concept for its new online banking service following on the heels of Ito-Yokado Co. (8264), which also intends to enter the banking business.
Unlike Ito-Yokado, which is expected to emphasize transaction settlements and looks to distinguish itself from conventional banks, Sony plans to offer banking services directly to individual customers and makes no bones about going head to head with established financial institutions.
Sony claims that it will enjoy cost advantages because it will not have to maintain bricks-and-mortar stores.
This claim is supported by the example of ORIX Trust and Banking Corp., which also has no physical branches. While most banks offer depositors virtually zero interest rates, ORIX enjoys widespread popularity by paying depositors annual interest of 1.0% on amounts of at least 10 million yen, placed in three-year time deposits.
A Sony bank would start with other advantages. Apart from cost, the company would economize on the strength of its brand name and the absence of bad debt, which plagues other banks.
Sony has moved to squash concerns by financial authorities, who worry that its bank could be transformed into an institutional bank, by setting up a firewall to isolate it from its other businesses. This kind of preemptive action is unique for the banking sector, which traditionally awaits instructions from authorities.
One key issue that Sony has yet to address is the sharing of customer information among its bank and other businesses. Sony promises that information sharing will only be with the consent of its customers, but clear rules need to be laid down.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Thursday morning edition
Regards, |
