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SBI Remit Co., Ltd (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Yoshinori Kimura, hereinafter “SBI Remit”), an international remittance service business operator, announces that it has entered into a business partnership agreement with Kiryu Shinkin Bank (Head office: Kiryu-shi, Gunma, President: Masumi Tsukui) and will begin providing services from (December 12, 2022).

Background and Purpose

Both the demand for and the presence of foreign workers in the Japanese economy are steadily increasing against a backdrop of labor shortage, due to productive-age population decrease associated with Japan’s declining working population. The number of foreign workers continues to increase year by year, with foreign workers accounting for around 60% (*2) of 2,961,969 foreign residents (*1) in Japan as of the end of June 2022.

The population of Gunma Prefecture has begun to decline after peaking at 2,035,000 in 2004, and is expected to fall to 1,553,000 by 2045, according to projections by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (*3). One problem posed by a declining population is a decrease in the number of workers. In the short term, this leads to a shortage of labor, which in turn constrains growth over the mid- to long term. The number of foreign nationals working in Gunma Prefecture reached a record high of 46,449 (*4) in October last year, offsetting the natural decline in the working population, and this number is expected to further increase following the resumption of foreign worker entry into Japan from March of this year.

SBI Remit’s mission is to provide highly convenient international remittance services to foreign residents in Japan, primarily in the form of remittances to foreign residents’ home countries. We are actively utilizing advanced financial technology, such as US Ripple’s distributed ledger technology, to improve customer convenience by providing affordable, speedy remittance services, customer support in 12 languages, and other services.

Meanwhile, Kiryu Shinkin Bank is a financial institution that specializes in financing small and medium-sized enterprises, and is actively engaged in developing the local community. The manufacturing industry accounts for a significant proportion of Gunma’s economy, and many companies employ foreign nationals. Gunma Prefecture has the third highest percentage of foreign nationals among its population of all prefectures in Japan, following Tokyo and Aichi, with the cities of Maebashi, Ota, and Isesaki together accounting for more than 60% of the total number of foreign workers in the prefecture (*3). Kiryu Shinkin Bank has branches in each of these three cities as well as other areas of the prefecture, and focuses on resolving challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises, including labor shortages, in cooperation with the national government, local governments, and related organizations.

Under such circumstances, this business partnership was formed as mutual use of both parties’ network and strengths would allow Kiryu Shinkin Bank to offer highly convenient international money transfer services that deliver convenience for foreign nationals working at local companies, while enabling SBI Remit to develop new markets.

SBI Remit will continue to place top priority on customer needs and strive to deliver new value through a customer-centric approach.

(*1) Ministry of Justice, Immigration Services Agency of Japan website: Number of foreign residents as of June 30, 2022

https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/publications/press/13_00028.html

(*2) Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Filing status summary of “Foreign workers employment situation” (As of October 31, 2022)

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_23495.html

(*3) Gunma Prefecture: Survey on Migration (As of October 1, 2022)

https://www.pref.gunma.jp/07/b33g_00024.html

(*4) Gunma Labor Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Summary of “Status of Employment of Foreign Nationals” (as of October 31, 2021)

https://jsite.mhlw.go.jp/gunma-roudoukyoku/content/contents/001073370.pdf