Sony Corp. launched the nation's second Internet-based bank Monday, aiming to attract customers to the branch-free bank with higher deposit interest rates and new financial services based on the firm's advanced information technology.
Sony Bank, owned 80 percent by Sony, hopes to have 400,000 Web accounts and 500 billion yen in deposits in three years by offering an annual interest rate of 0.40 percent to 0.55 percent on one-year time deposits, about 10 times higher than rates paid on ordinary accounts.
"We aim to provide private banking services for businessmen," Sony Bank President Shigeru Ishii said at a ceremony to mark the start of the online banking service.