Japanese-based Mizuho Financial Group has kicked off a new fintech venture, catering to emerging businesses in the sector as part of a broader effort and outreach to disrupt several industry elements, per a group statement.
Mizuho Financial Group is Japan’s second-largest lender by assets, which currently includes upwards of twenty projects in the pipeline for the fintech venture. This includes an emphasis on several technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and others.
The development is the latest of global lenders making investments into the fintech space, with many others in Europe and the US also following suit. The development and harnessing of technologies such as blockchain and sentiment-based trading systems, among others, have been flagged as top objectives for many businesses and lenders over the past few years.
The efforts will also be spearheaded by Mizuho’s Chief Digital Innovation Officer, Daisuke Yamada, though he did note the cultural and technological challenges that the lender would likely incur as it tried to implement new business models that run counter to many domestic traditional attitudes.
As such, Yamada noted Mizuho will only be limiting its stake in the yet-to-be named fintech venture at less than 15 percent, though Yamada would be its president and the bank would send staff. More specifically, the new venture planned to conduct an export trade transaction next month using blockchain technology, allowing all parties to exchange necessary documents online instead of waiting for hard copies.
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