In recent years, the demand for nest eggs has increased significantly due to the new coronavirus infection.
With this, not only games, but also online competitions in e-sports, and VTubers as a whole have skyrocketed in popularity, and cryptocurrencies (virtual currencies) have appeared with many blockchain games and NFT-based content, making the gaming industry a synonym for fintech, "finance x IT. The gaming industry is also being influenced by finance, not only by "finance x IT" but also by "finance x games".
In particular, many people use credit and debit cards to purchase downloadable versions of games, and the two are inseparable.
The SBI Group, which stands out from the financial industry in the gaming industry, has established SBI e-Sports Inc. and formed an e-sports team.
The SBI Group has also started an official VTuber project, "Shunsui Rei," and is continuing to gain momentum.
The SBI Group continues to gain momentum, and its core banking business, " SBI Sumishin Net Bank," has surpassed 5 million deposit accounts!
Rapid growth under the NEOBANK brand!
提携NEOBANKサービス SBI Sumishin Net Bank has rebranded itself as "NEOBANK" and is expanding its customer base by partnering with many businesses in addition to the traditional SBI customers.
T NEOBANK" in partnership with T Money, "JAL NEOBANK" in partnership with JAL, "Yamada NEOBANK" in partnership with Yamada Denki Group, "Ouchibank" in partnership with Ouchilink, etc. At a glance, it is hard to believe that SBI is involved in the development of affiliated banks.
Yamada, in particular, holds the "YAMADA Cup" e-sports tournament and operates the "TSUKUMO" home-built PC and parts specialty store for gamers, and is an indispensable company for e-sports in both name and reality. It could be called the "W Gaming Bank ".
How big is 5 million units?
Well, SBI Sumishin Net Bank has reached 5 million deposit accounts, but let's compare how big 5 million accounts is.
Since it is not so easy to compare if megabanks are included, I will compare only online banks this time.
| Bank Name | Number of accounts |
|---|---|
| Rakuten Bank | 11 million accounts |
| AEON Bank | 7.18 million accounts |
| SBI Sumishin Net Bank | 5 million accounts |
| PayPay Bank | 5 million accounts |
| au Jibun Bank | 4.32 million accounts |
| Seven Bank | 2.44 million accounts |
| Sony Bank | 1.58 million accounts |
| Lawson Bank | 65,000 accounts |
As you can see, the number of accounts is somewhere in the middle of the online banks.
However, LAWSON BANK has just opened for business, and although Sony Bank has a small number of accounts, the amount of individual deposits is quite large, so it is not a simple comparison based on the number of accounts alone.
(Some banks do not offer corporate accounts, while others allow a single corporation to open multiple accounts.)
Also, SBI has many regional banks under its umbrella, and the strategies and directions of each bank are different, so evaluations are often divided.
If you like e-sports and games, opening an account at SBI is recommended.
However, if you are a gaming enthusiast and interested in e-sports, SBI Sumishin Net Bank, aka NEOBANK, is a good choice.
Especially if you like cryptocurrencies, NFT, and blockchain games.
The reason for this is SBI's many initiatives mentioned above, but speaking from a cryptocurrency perspective, you need a deposit account at SBI Net Bank to use " SBI VC Trade," a cryptocurrency exchange operated by the SBI Group itself.
SBI VC Trade" is scheduled to merge with "TaoTao" of Z Holdings (formerly Yahoo!), which is involved in LINE and PayPay, so we can expect further growth in the future.
Other well-known cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan include "bitFlyer". bitFlyer allows quick deposits at any time with SBI Sumishin Net Bank, and there are no fees.
For those who are interested in NFT and blockchain, it is a good idea to start by purchasing cryptocurrency at a cryptocurrency exchange, so opening an account at SBI Sumishin Net Bank will be much more convenient.
In addition, we also issue Visa and Mastercard debit cards, which can be used for DLC purchases, of course, but with a credit card, there is a risk of running up to your credit limit and being chased by payments the following month. With a debit card, however, you can only pay for the balance in your bank account.
Furthermore, e-sports players who want to become professionals should open a bank account at SBI Sumishin Net Bank and a cryptocurrency exchange account at SBI VC Trade so that they can be scouted by the professional gaming team "SBI e-Sports" at any time!
Sorry, this article is only available in Japanese. at the moment.
