A woman walks past a sign board of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, part of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc outside its branch in Tokyo, Japan, January 27, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanaihas launched a digital banking service in the United States, as Japan's number two lender aims to tap growth in the U.S. consumer banking market, a bank executive said on Wednesday.
Sumitomo Mitsui is providing personal loans through a newly created online banking division of Manufacturers Bank, a California state-chartered bank wholly owned by the Japanese group. Starting with a 270-strong workforce, the digital banking service targets some tens of billions of yen in net profit within 10 years, said Daisuke Tanaka, an executive at the bank's corporate development group."We're starting small with a long-term vision," Tanaka told a media briefing. "But we eventually want to have a solid presence in the United States."