Tokyo-based startup SmartBank has secured a remarkable $26 million in funding to bolster its personal finance management app, making strides in driving cashless transactions in Japan.
Founded in 2019 by Shota Horii, Yuta Horii, and Jun Taketani, SmartBank aims to address a pressing issue within the country’s consumer finance industry – the preference for cash transactions among the aging population. The startup’s core product is a prepaid card and finance management app that offers a deposit account, catering primarily to individuals in their 20s and 30s, as well as married couples.
“Our core user base, which was the B/43 My Card, is now the B/43 Pair Card users…this is significant as banks in Japan do not provide joint bank accounts, and B/43 has become the go-to product,” said SmartBank CFO Yuta Shimogawara.
The latest funding, which includes 1.1 billion JPY ($7.2 million) in debt financing and 2.9 billion JPY ($18.8 million) in equity from current investor Global Brain, will be used to double the company’s workforce from 49 to around 100 employees by 2025, with half dedicated to the engineering team.
“Consumer fintech services in Japan have been slow to use AI, but our goal is to become the leading AI fintech company in the country,” said Chihaya Akaike, the director of business operations at SmartBank.
The startup has also introduced an AI-powered receipt reading feature, allowing users to better understand and optimize their finances. Additionally, SmartBank has obtained licenses for money transfers and prepaid payment instruments, enabling it to offer a wider range of services, including payments and peer-to-peer transfers.
With plans to diversify its revenue streams beyond interchange fees, SmartBank aims to become a comprehensive financial platform, providing a broad suite of services to its growing user base.
