February 22, 2007

 

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

Promise Co., Ltd.

At-Loan Co., Ltd.

 

SMBC, Promise and At-Loan Announce Partial Revision

In Distribution of Consumer Loans under Cascade Strategy

 

 

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC, President: Masayuki Oku), Promise Co., Ltd. (President: Hiroki Jinnai), and At-Loan Co., Ltd. (President: Masaaki Shimojima) have made the following revisions to the distribution of consumer loans under the cascade strategy in response to shifts in social trends in Japan involving the consumer finance market.

 

1.   Summary of revisions

Consumer loans currently offered by SMBC, Promise and At-Loan will be sold only by SMBC and At-Loan. As before, Promise will guarantee all loans extended by SMBC and At-Loan under the cascade strategy.

 

2.   Date of effectiveness

The revisions will become effective on February 26, 2007.

 

In June 2004, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG, President: Teisuke Kitayama) and Promise reached an agreement to form a strategic alliance in consumer finance business. A joint consumer finance business model called the cascade strategy began in April 2005, operated by SMBC, Promise and At-Loan, positioning At-Loan as a joint venture under this strategic alliance. This business has grown steadily for these almost two years, and, at the end of December 2006, consumer loans outstanding at the three companies totaled \263.1 billion.

SMFG and Promise will continue to collaborate as strategic partners for each other, and will address sound cashing needs of consumers more accurately and speedily, by combining their brands, customer bases, expertise and other resources. Our plans include expanding the network of automatic contract machines installed in SMBC branches (621 machines as of February 2007), by placing these machines at railroad stations, shopping centers, Promise branches and other locations, mainly in major regional cities throughout Japan. Through this expansion and other actions, SMFG and Promise intend to continue working on the development of products and services that can offer even greater convenience for customers.

 

Note:The cascade strategy is a joint consumer finance business model operated by SMBC, Promise and At-Loan.