I'm a 基金 経営者／支配人 and this is why I'm 支援 the companies shaking up Japan's 財政上の system

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In a country where cash has long been king, fintech innovators are at last shaking up old habits.?

Matthew Brett, 経営者／支配人 of The Baillie Gifford Japan 信用, tells Joji Sakurai about three disrupters 緩和するing the 支配する of the country’s 伝統的な megabanks.

As with any 投資, your 資本／首都 is at 危険.

Japan is known for its 科学（工学）技術 but its banking and 財政上の system has been 比較して old-fashioned until recently

Imagine settling a big 税金 法案 by 手渡すing over brick-like bundles of cash. Or 支払う／賃金ing for your heart 操作／手術 with a splay of crisp new banknotes.?

Neither 処理／取引 would raise an eyebrow in Japan, where cashiers 根気よく wait for 顧客s to count out exact coinage into little plastic trays while the 列 behind 展示（する）s Zen-like 寛容.

After 持つ／拘留するing sw ay for centuries, this behaviour is at last making way for 財政上の habits already familiar in other 主要な economies.?

運動ing the change, によれば Matthew Brett, 経営者／支配人 of Baillie Gifford Japan 信用, is a new 産む／飼育する of 会社／堅いs shaking up Japan’s 財政上の 産業.

Brett tells me that his 最近の trip to Tokyo to 会合，会う investee companies and 調査／捜査する prospects 強固にする／合併する／制圧するd his 賞賛 for a new 産む／飼育する of companies cutting out intermediaries and giving slower-footed 現職のs a run for their money.

'These companies are winning with a combination of 数字表示式の savvy, entrepreneurial imagination and 簡素化するd 管理／経営,' says Brett. 'They 代表する a more plausible path to 支えるd growth, one that belies the 従来の 知恵 recommending 投資するing in Japan’s megabanks and 安全s houses.'

Changing habits, 混乱に陥れる／中断させるing 現職のs

From 動きやすい 支払い（額） apps to （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限-解放する／自由な online 在庫／株 貿易（する）ing, Japan is seeing a 殺到する in 財政上の 革新 that is reshaping its 消費者 culture.?

'Restaurants that don’t 受託する cash and taxis 許すing scannable QR [quick 返答] code 支払い（額）s were once 考えられない in Japan,' Brett 公式文書，認めるs, referring to the ubiquitous 黒人／ボイコット-and-white square barcodes.?

'Now they’re part of everyday life. That’s quickly changing the 財政上の landscape.'

For sure, Japan’s traditionalist megabanks were on a 涙／ほころび in 2023. ブイ，浮標d by a 地位，任命する-Covid にわか景気 and higher lending 率s, their 業績／成果 より勝るd the 部門’s newcomers. But Brett thinks the nimbler players will own the 未来 by taking advantage of changes occurring in Japan and the broader 全世界の economy.

'When we take a step 支援する, 財政／金融 is 利益／興味ing because it doesn’t have to be physical, which makes it ide 同盟（する） ふさわしい for the internet age,' explains Brett.?

'Japan’s up-and-coming 財政上の players are 掴むing these 適切な時期s,' he 追加するs, 経由で 数字表示式の 網状組織s that stretch across ecommerce, 動きやすい telecoms, gaming and more.

Matthew Brett, 経営者／支配人 of The Baillie Gifford Japan 信用

Brett half-jokingly compares these upstarts to Genghis 旅宿泊所 after 征服する／打ち勝つing part of Mongolia.?

A 広大な world of 適切な時期 still を待つs these disrupters, in their 事例／患者 one 十分な of complacent banking 巨大（な）s riddled with salaryman 態度s and wide open to challenge.

?Japan’s three biggest banks have a market value of about ?29tn (£155bn). That dwarfs the 連合させるd ?5.7tn (£30bn) value of the newer 財政上の 部門 players discussed below.

'This tells us of the 規模 of 適切な時期,' Brett says. 'There’s a world for them to 征服する／打ち勝つ. The 量 of wealth and the need for more modern 財政上の services are enormous.'?

財政上の 部門 在庫／株s 代表する 概略で 10 per cent of Baillie Gifford Japan 信用’s 大臣の地位. Brett 最高潮の場面s three examples:

SBI Holdings

設立するd in 1999 and now an international online 複合的な／複合企業体 encompassing banking, 保険 and 安全s 貿易（する）ing, SBI is the leader of a new class of 財政上の companies 栄えるing online without a physical 支店 structure.?

Led by visionary 創立者-leader Yoshitaka Kitao, SBI became the first 仲買業 to 捨てる its （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 料金 on 貿易（する）s of 国内の 在庫／株s. This was a 高度に 破壊的な move in a country where 私的な 投資家s have 伝統的に 直面するd hefty 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金s.

By 存在 online-only, SBI 減ずるs its 総計費 costs, resulting in a leaner, more efficient 商売／仕事 model. It has 殺到するd past 伝統的な 競争相手s to become Japan’s second-largest 仲買業 by 歳入 after Nomura.?

'伝統的な 会社／堅いs are 重荷（を負わせる）d with 遺産／遺物 IT, born of 複雑にするd 合併s and 取得／買収s, that 妨害するs online 革新,' says Brett.?

'There’s also a cultural 抵抗 to の近くにing 地元の 支店s. Companies like SBI come from a 完全に different starting point ? it’s been digitally native from birth.'

He 追加するs that SBI’s boldest move was to create an 同盟 of 地域の banks. 田舎の depopulation and 拒絶する／低下するing 地元の economies had 脅すd these 貸す人s’ 生き残り.?

But by 投資するing in them and 取って代わるing their outdated systems, SBI has 改善するd the personalised services they 供給する 顧客s while 伸び（る）ing 接近 to the wealth of Japan’s 中心地域s.

Rakuten is best known as Japan’s biggest ecommerce marketplace and also now 申し込む／申し出s 財政上の services

Rakuten

Best known as Japan’s biggest ecommerce marketplace, Rakuten now 申し込む／申し出s a 包括的な 範囲 of 財政上の services. 創立者 Hiroshi Mikitani, whose 早期に career was in banking, has drawn on his experience to 追加する 財政上の services to Rakuten’s ecosystem.

The 会社／堅い 申し込む／申し出s 消費者s 接近 to everything from 貿易（する）ing in 在庫／株s and 社債s to credit cards, banking and 貸付金s, all interconnected through a 選び出す／独身 使用者 ID. This 簡単にするs the 顧客 experience and helps Rakuten challenge 伝統的な banks.

'We’re probably more excited about Rakuten’s credit card 商売／仕事 than its 比較して low-利ざや bank,' Brett says, 'but the latter 供給するs a good service and showcases the energy of Mr Mikitani in 掴むing 適切な時期s'.

Like SBI, Rakuten melds 科学技術の 革新 with a service-oriented culture. Rakuten 安全s is a 共同の 投機・賭ける with Mizuho 財政上の Group, a Japanese megabank with a hard-earned 評判 for serving the needs of its 顧客s, 特に those making large and コンビナート／複合体 投資s. Rakuten is also 拡大するing into 動きやすい-based banking.

LY 会社／団体

Masayoshi Son, the charismatic 創立者 of Japan’s SoftBank Group, is best known for 捜し出すing tech-関係のある 全世界の 適切な時期s thr ough his ?24tn (£128bn) 見通し 基金. LY Corp is one of his rarer 国内の 投資s.?

The 商売／仕事 sprang from a 合併 of SoftBank’s Yahoo! Japan and the country’s favourite instant messenger service, Line Corp. Brett 述べるs it as “a disrupter of disrupters” thanks to PayPay, Japan’s 支配的な 支払い（額） app with 38 million 使用者s.

PayPay lets 使用者s go cashless by scanning QR codes to make 支払い（額）s in 蓄える／店s, restaurants, hotels and other 発生地s. LY’s approach capitalises on a broader 転換 に向かって 動きやすい 科学（工学）技術, enabling 消費者s to link their bank accounts and credit cards to their smartphones.?

PayPay’s success is partly 予定 to SoftBank’s 昇進／宣伝 and 投資. 申し込む／申し出ing a generous points system, it 目的（とする）s to 設立する PayPay as Japan’s 支配的な QR code 支払い（額） method.?

As Brett puts it: 'Mr Son has suddenly appeared from 行う／開催する／段階 left with QR 科学（工学）技術 from 中国. Could the QR code be more important than the credit card? We don’t yet know how that story will play out.'

This article 初めは featured in Baillie Gifford’s Spring 2024 問題／発行する of 信用 magazine.

Important （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）

投資s with （危険などに）さらす to overseas 安全s can be 影響する／感情d by changing 株式市場 条件s and 通貨 率s. （危険などに）さらす to a 選び出す／独身 market and 通貨 could 増加する 危険. 投資するing in smaller, immature companies is 一般に considered higher 危険 as changes in their 株 prices may be greater and the 株 may be harder to sell. Smaller, immature companies may do いっそう少なく 井戸／弁護士席 in periods of unfavourable 経済的な 条件s. The 見解（をとる）s 表明するd in this article should not be considered as advice or a 推薦 to buy, sell or 持つ／拘留する a particular 投資. The article 含む／封じ込めるs （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） and opinion on 投資s that does not 構成する 独立した・無所属 投資 研究, and is therefore not 支配する to the 保護s afforded to 独立した・無所属 研究.

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