March 15, 2001
Internet Settlement Service for Toyota's GAZOO e-Commerce Site
From April 2001, The Sakura Bank, Limited (Akishige Okada, President) will begin providing a new Internet settlement service through its subsidiaries, The Sakura Loan Partner, Limited (Kunio Sato, President) and The Japan Net Bank, Limited (Yoshiyuki Miyai, President). The service is provided for customers of the general e-commerce site GAZOO (URL: http://gazoo.com), the site operated by Toyota Motor Corporation (Fujio Cho, President) with approximately 700,000 members. Sakura Loan Partner has applied for a business model patent to cover the loan service it will provide, since the service represents a new loan scheme for Internet shopping malls. For reasons of security and convenience, the principal methods used by customers to pay for purchases at Internet shopping malls involve credit cards or cash on delivery. Settlement by loan, requiring complex and time-consuming procedures, and settlement by fund transfer, requiring the user to enter the name of the payee and payer along with other information, were thought difficult. Using its strategic subsidiaries, Sakura Loan Partner and Japan Net Bank, Sakura Bank has developed a new business model that allows users to conveniently complete settlement through the Internet. With the service, Sakura Loan Partner will offer an on-site loan with approval taking as little as 30 minutes, while Japan Net Bank will offer a "Free Net" settlement service that does not require the user to input the names of the payee or payer. After initially providing these services to the 700,000 members of GAZOO, Sakura Bank plans to expand to different customer bases and to look at entering into new alliances. The New Loan Service Setting up an Internet loan service for payments at online shopping malls and other sites was thought to be difficult, given that users demand speed and it takes time for loan approvals. With its expertise in quick approvals (requiring as little as 30 minutes in some cases), Sakura Loan Partner developed a loan service that customers can use with the same level of convenience as cash on delivery or credit card payment. The service will initially be provided to Toyota, and will be launched in April 2001 under the name Gazu@Loan. Members will be able to apply for a loan via the Internet 24 hours a day, and will be informed of the result in as little as 30 minutes. Gazu@Loan is structured to allow borrowers to buy several products at once or consecutively. The maximum limit for a loan is \500,000, making it convenient for purchasing such relatively expensive items as personal computers. The Internet Settlement Service At present, Internet settlement services require users to pay a fee and to enter the name of the party receiving the transfer of funds and the name of the party making the transfer of funds. Japan Net Bank is providing a free settlement service called Gazup@y to GAZOO members. This service displays the names of the payee and payer on the screen, so a customer can make settlement simply by entering an account number, password and ID code. The service will enable members to make transfers for settlement with extreme ease. Copyright(C)2001 THE SAKURA BANK, LIMITED |