Resona Holdings Inc. is targeting retiring entrepreneurs to boost lending by some ¥600 billion through businesses they sell and rental properties they invest in.
Japan's fifth-largest bank is betting on a demographic shift that will push people who are 65 and older to 30 percent of the population by 2025. Resona President, Seiji Higaki, 61, expects aging proprietors of small companies to close shop and seek loans for new apartment buildings, swapping business revenue for rental income.
"Just look around: Many of the small business buildings and factories in Tokyo have been scrapped and replaced by apartments and condominiums," Higaki said in an interview Monday. "These are custom-made loans that will carry higher interest rates than ordinary corporate loans."