The LINE Financial ecosystem is taking shape
Having established a thriving social network business in Japan (see “How LINE dominates social networks in Japan”), LINE Corporation established LINE Financial Corporation (“LINE Financial”) in January 2018 to seek additional ways to deliver revenue growth out of its 78 million Japanese users.
Over the course of the last year, significant partnerships have been launched with key industry players, and leadership was strengthened at the end of 2018 with the appointment of Tetsuhiko Saito, previously a Senior Managing Executive Officer at Mizuho Financial Group, and Co-Head of the Retail & Business Banking Division.
Nomura
Announced as an MOU in March 2018, and fully signed towards the end of May, Nomura and LINE Financial established LINE Securities Corporation (“LINE Securities”) on June 1, 2018, as a preparatory company with the aim to establish a Type I Financial Instruments Business (based on the the Financial Instruments & Exchange Law, “FIEL”). The securities brokerage service could be available as early as the second half of 2019.
FOLIO
LINE Financial launched “LINE Smart Invest” based on FOLIO’s themed investment products in October 2018. Around 70 different themes across 11 categories are available, such as drones, young women’s trends, virtual reality, etc., and the minimum investment amount is JPY 100,000 (USD 1,000). To activate the service, users must open a FOLIO account and link it to their LINE account.
Mizuho Financial Group
In November 2018, LINE Financial and Mizuho Financial Group announced the establishment of a preparatory company that will plan and consider the establishment of a new bank under the premise that necessary permits and licenses will be obtained by regulatory authorities. A banking service could become available as early as fall 2020.
Orient Corporation (“Orico”)
At the same time, it was announced that Mizuho Bank and Orient Corporation (“Orico”, also part of Mizuho Financial Group) will become shareholders in LINE Credit Corporation (“LINE Credit”) through a third party allocation of new shares. After the deal completes in in spring 2019, LINE Financial will hold 51%, Mizuho Bank 34%, and Orico 15% in LINE Credit, which plans to launch LINE Score, a personal credit scoring service, and LINE Pocket Money, a personal unsecured loan service.
Sompo Holdings
Sompo announced a co-operation with LINE in April 2018, and the LINE Insurance service went live on October 16, 2018, offering 59 different theme-based insurance policies, such as travel, sports, events, golfing, etc. While most of the policies are short-term, and provide daily coverage for unique situations, including seasonal outdoor events, bad weather, volunteer work, and outdoor concerts, others, such as bicycle insurance and legal expenses insurance, provide annual coverage. Please also refer to our previous article, “LINE Insurance launched in October”.
Other
Outside of Japan, LINE Financial has also launched the BITBOX cryptocurrency exchange based in Singapore in July 2018, an entity that serves global customers, except for those residing in Japan and the United States.
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