The battleground for retail banking will shift to convenience stores Monday when Ito-Yokado Co.'s IY Bank opens on a vast network of ATMs at Seven-Eleven stores nationwide.
With its operations based almost entirely on automated teller machines, IY Bank will offer customers 24-hour access to banking services year-round at the 3,650 outlets run by the leading convenience store chain, owned by Ito-Yokado, and at Ito-Yokado supermarkets.
Unlike conventional banks, whose earnings center on interest charged on loans, IY Bank aims to rely solely on fee-based income from its customers and from its partner banks -- Sanwa Bank, Asahi Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.