Japanese digital and communications services company, Rakuten Group, has signed up 18 million customers for its digital banking service, Rakuten Bank.
The company said the expansion marks its broader strategy to develop a portfolio of services, including connectivity from Rakuten Mobile, which now boasts more than 10 million customers that can be used in tandem with each other to create an integrated customer experience and improve customer loyalty by offering preferential service combinations critical in extremely competitive markets such as Japan.
Rakuten, in an announcement of the investment, said it was aimed at providing customers with greater convenience and value not only through its own services but also by strengthening collaborations with other Rakuten Group services.
According to the company, Rakuten Mobile subscribers who hold a Rakuten Bank account are now eligible for a maximum interest rate of 0.64 percent per annum (0.509 percent per annum after tax), more than double the standard interest rate, positioning it as a highly competitive offering in the market.
This integrated approach is something that clearly interests Veon, which is developing an increasingly broad range of digital services, as Rakuten Symphony is working with Beeline Uzbekistan, Veon’s digital operator in Uzbekistan, to establish a “framework to explore collaboration focused on areas including network deployment, optimisation and development, and digital services, leveraging Rakuten’s software stack and platform expertise.”
