SMBC’s US digital bank, Jenius Bank, launches savings accounts

Norbert Gehrke
Tokyo FinTech
Published in
2 min readNov 8, 2023

In July, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) began providing personal loans to U.S. residents through Jenius Bank, a division of Manufacturers Bank, a California state-chartered bank that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SMBC Group.

Jenius Bank has now launched the Jenius Bank Savings Account, designed to empower customers to achieve their financial goals with greater ease and flexibility. Following these two product launches, Jenius Bank plans to offer a mobile app in the coming months.

Jenius Bank creates an opportunity for SMBC Group to deepen and expand its U.S. business, providing scale and growth potential in the U.S. consumer banking market. By taking a different approach to conventional banking services, Jenius Bank will operate as a digital bank without physical branches, providing customers with a banking experience that is built on their preferences. Additionally, through its extensive consumer research program, Jenius Bank will proactively incorporate customer feedback while developing and updating its products and services to meet the constantly changing needs of customers.

Therefore, SMBC’s approach to the U.S. market is in stark contrast to MUFG, which exited consumer banking by disposing of Union Bank, and is focusing on creating “a second home market” in South East Asia.

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Norbert Gehrke
Tokyo FinTech

Passionate about strategy & innovation across Asia. At home in Japan. Connector of people & ideas.