Rakuten Bank Surpasses 13 Million Customer Accounts

Tokyo, September 26, 2022 - Rakuten Bank, Ltd. today announced that it has surpassed 13 million customer accounts* as of September 22, 2022.

Since it was established as an online bank in 2001, Rakuten Bank has been well-received by many individual, corporate and sole proprietor business customers. The number of Rakuten Bank accounts has now surpassed 13 million, and the bank recently surpassed 8 trillion yen in total balance of deposits surpassed at the end of June 2022.

In addition to offering the convenience of easy accessibility 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Rakuten Bank has also come up with a wide range of features to provide customers with greater convenience and value. For example, it offers the Happy Program for individual customers, which rewards them with Rakuten Points for signing up with the program and for each transaction, and waives ATM fees up to seven times per month and bank transfer fees up to three times per month. It also provides the Money Bridge service, which offers preferential interest rates on ordinary deposit accounts when users link their Rakuten Bank account with their Rakuten Securities account, and the Rakuten Bank app that allows customers to access almost all available services through their smartphone anywhere and anytime. For corporate customers, the bank also offers the Rakuten Bank Business Debit Card (JCB) that gives corporate customers 1% cashback on their card spending, and the Rakuten Bank Business Support Program that provides free access to part of its suite of partner services that are useful to businesses, such as invoice creation and expense settlement.

Furthermore, Rakuten Bank has been working to strengthen its collaborations with other services offered by the Rakuten Group and to provide services enhance convenience and value for Rakuten Bank customers. These include joining the Super Point Up program in July 2018, which scales up the number of points earned from shopping on Rakuten Ichiba for individual customers, and in anticipation of the advent of the cashless era, the launch of Rakuten Pay (payment through Rakuten Bank account) services inside the Rakuten Pay cashless payment app from January 2021, which directly deducts money from the user’s Rakuten Bank account balance immediately upon payment via Rakuten Pay without having to top up any money in advance.

In addition, to allow customers to use banking services more comfortably in their daily lives and to pay their electricity, gas, water, telephone, pension, credit card, and other bills easily online, Rakuten Bank is working steadily on its sales activities in order to increase the number of partner companies accepting such payments. At the same time, it has made available a wide range of payment methods that many customers are using, including bank transfers, Pay-easy, and the Rakuten Bank Convenience Store Payment Service (convenience store slip payment via the Rakuten Bank app). In February 2022, Rakuten Bank introduced an online identity verification service through the use of eKYC for individual customers opening an account with Rakuten Bank. With this convenient new service, it is now possible to open a new bank account as soon as the following day, allowing customers to begin using their new account in a timely fashion.

These initiatives have been well-received by customers and led to the latest milestone of 13 million Rakuten Bank accounts. Rakuten Bank will continue working to offer innovative and convenient products and services to customers.

*Excludes closed accounts.

About the Happy Program (Customer Loyalty Program)
The Happy Program is a customer loyalty program under Rakuten Bank. Users are awarded Rakuten Points for signing up with the program and for each transaction. Accumulated points can be used to pay for bank transfer fees and debit card usage charges. Users enjoy benefits every time they move to a higher membership tier, and are eligible for ATM fee waivers up to seven times per month and bank transfer fee waivers up to three times per month.

About Money Bridge
A preferential interest rate of 0.10% per annum (0.079% after tax)* is applied on ordinary deposit accounts for users who apply for Money Bridge. When there are insufficient funds for transactions on Rakuten Securities, funds are automatically deposited from the user’s Rakuten Bank account balance. In addition, funds in the securities account can be automatically deposited into the Rakuten Bank account during the evening after each business day. This “sweep” function saves users the trouble of transferring funds manually and allows them to enjoy preferential interest rates.

*There is a cap to the balance for which the preferential interest rate of 0.10% per annum (pretax) can be applied when users apply for Money Bridge. For balances of 3 million yen and below in ordinary deposit accounts: 0.10% per annum (0.079% per annum after tax). For balances in excess of 3 million yen in ordinary deposit accounts: 0.040 per annum (0.031% per annum after tax)

About the Rakuten Bank App
The Rakuten Bank app allows users to conduct almost all banking transactions, including opening an account, checking balances and transactions, as well as making bank transfers and depositing money in term deposits and foreign currency deposits.

About the Rakuten Bank Business Support Program
Customers who hold corporate accounts can use external services provided in partnership with Rakuten Bank easily and at greater value.

About the Super Point Up Program (SPU)
By setting Rakuten Bank as the account for payment deductions for their Rakuten Card, and further, by using their Rakuten Bank account to receive their salaries, bonuses and pensions, users can enjoy up to an additional 1% increase in the number of Rakuten Points that they receive for payments made with their Rakuten Card when shopping on Rakuten Ichiba.