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[The Story Behind DG×Resona Partnership #3] Next-Generation FinTech: Financial Institutions and Tech Companies Pioneering New Business Development
In 2022, Digital Garage and Resona Holdings formed a capital and business alliance aimed at strengthening their payment business, expanding market share, and advancing next-generation fintech business. By 2023, the partnership deepened further, extending into collaborative efforts in open innovation through startup investments. This four-part series explores the details of their collaboration and their shared vision for the future.
The third installment examines “Next Generation Fintech”, featuring an interview with Digital Garage and Resona on topics including the aims of the partnership, business development strategies, and future prospects.
＜Interviewees＞
Yohei Ito; General Manager, DX Planning Department; Resona Holdings, Inc.
Shunsuke Aono; DX Producer, DX Planning Department; Resona Holdings, Inc.
Daisuke Tominaga; Executive Officer; Digital Garage, Inc.
Junichi Sakishima; Executive Officer, New Business Development; Digital Garage, Inc.
Naoya Fujimaki; Deputy General Manager, Corporate Development Division; Digital Garage, Inc.
(Affiliations and titles are as of publication)
Beyond the commoditization of payment services: Creating new value
Digital Garage and Resona Holdings had been exploring the potential of the Fintech sector and developing businesses even before their joint development.
Tominaga: Digital Garage has advocated the group strategy “DG FinTech Shift,” integrating payments, data, and technology since 2021. The financial industry has one of the largest market scales in Japan, but until now it has been difficult for non-financial businesses to enter the market due to strict regulations under the supervision of the Financial Services Agency. However, with the advancement of technology, we are now seeing trends such as banks providing APIs to external companies, making the convergence of IT and finance a major business opportunity.
Also, industries of all kinds are evolving into fintech businesses. For example, many POS system providers have started payment businesses, and large overseas tech companies such as Amazon have also started Fintech businesses. Digital Garage, which has a leading share in the payment business, has decided to focus on the Fintech business, viewing this business trend as the greatest opportunity.
We would like to leverage Resona’s financial expertise to provide new value through the Fintech business, as payment services become increasingly commoditized. The role of payment services is just one piece of what customers need from financial services. Resona has comprehensive knowledge of not only payment but also financial services such as money transfers and loans, including its track record to date and its banking license, and we believe Resona is the best partner for us.
Ito: Resona Holdings has also been working to enter the Fintech business early on in order to respond to the trends in the world. In fact, we have been ahead of other companies in promoting digital utilization, and as an example of this, we have been working to acquire and analyze customer behavior data through apps.
The basic structure of the economy is BtoBtoC, and corporate activities and household finances are closely linked through banks as intermediaries. Given this premise, we have been trying to capture the flow of people, goods, and money in each industry as data, rather than simply providing payment functions, as we stand between all transactions. The accumulated customer behavior data can be used to predict economic trends and consumer behavior.
We intend to proceed with studies on how to incorporate banking functions into the current economic flow based on the analysis results. Digital Garage, with its up-to-date knowledge for developing new services while capturing the flow of money in society as a whole as data, was the perfect partner for Resona Holdings.
The two groups combine their areas of expertise to launch multiple services in a short period of time
The two groups have created multiple services in less than a year since the start of full-scale joint development. As of January 2025, two services have been launched, the payment service specializing in the medical field “CurePort” and the B2B payment service “Online Invoice Card Payment.”
Online payment service for the healthcare industry “CurePort”
A payment service developed with the concept of “allowing patients to return home immediately after their consultations”. Patients can register the necessary information in advance via a dedicated mobile app before visiting the clinic, and when they arrive at the clinic, they simply scan the check-in QR code provided at the reception desk. After the examination is completed, they can go home without waiting for payment.
Related release: https://www.garage.co.jp/en/pr/release/20241219/
Related article: https://www.garage.co.jp/en/portal/36081/(May 21, 2024)
B2B Payment Service “Online Invoice Card Payment”
“Online Invoice Card Payment” is a payment service that allows businesses to effectively extend their payment deadlines by switching from bank transfers to credit card payments. Resona Kessai Service Co., Ltd. facilitates credit card payments to suppliers who do not accept them by acting as an intermediary through Digital Garage, to make bank transfers on behalf of customers.
Related release: https://www.garage.co.jp/en/pr/release/20241017/
Related article: https://www.garage.co.jp/en/portal/31335/(May 3, 2024)
In a highly regulated financial sector, the ability to create new services one after another in a short time is due to the determination and challenge of both groups.
Aono: The specific flow of business development within Resona Holdings starts with gathering “seeds” for new businesses. After that, we go through the general business development process, such as identifying customers, developing solutions to issues, conducting user interviews, and verifying compliance risks, before making the final decision to start the PoC. A distinctive feature is that each project is run on a three-month cycle. Progress reports on each project are made to executives and department managers every month, and projects that are not sufficiently reviewed may be closed in less than three months.
Tominaga: The larger the company, the stronger the tendency to spend a lot of time reviewing new business launches. However, we emphasize not only the quality of the business but also the speed with which it is released. Rather than taking the time to create a plan that everyone is satisfied with, it is better to actually have customers use the service and make improvements based on the feedback we receive so that we can quickly develop a service that customers will continue to use.
Ito: Digital Garage has a deep understanding of customers in creating new businesses, and their way of thinking and stance is a great inspiration to us. Digital Garage is thoroughly committed to understanding customer behavior in each project, and makes detailed assumptions about “how customers will behave,” “what kind of experience will satisfy them,” and “what their psychological state will be while using the service”. There is much to be learned from this kind of approach, and I feel that it is enriching the ideas of Resona Holdings.
Resona Holdings is taking on the challenge of creating a different kind of new business. How does Mr. Fujimaki, who was transferred from Resona Holdings to Digital Garage and is actually involved in creating new businesses, feel about it?
Fujimaki: In a word, it’s “fun.” In addition to personally seeking opportunities for new challenges, I am greatly inspired by the daily growth of my colleagues at Resona Holdings, including myself, who are involved with Digital Garage. I feel that the chemical reactions generated by this collaboration will run through Resona Holdings and trigger a change in the entire group, and I feel that we are at a major turning point for the group.
Digital Garage x Resona Holdings aim to revitalize the Japanese economy and create the world’s best services
Finally, we asked each of them about their prospects for joint development.
Ito: We want to continue developing services that are close to our customers. In addition, we would like to continue to develop human resources who will lead Resona Holdings in the future through joint development. We believe that as personnel exchanges between the two groups progress, mutual understanding of each other’s cultures and assets will deepen, and we will be able to undertake more dynamic initiatives. We hope to create services that are more closely linked to our customers by linking the assets of both groups more closely. Ultimately, we would like to create services that are so integrated into people’s lives that customers are not even aware that they are using them, and contribute to the digital shift in the world.
Tominaga: Digital Garage has been developing various businesses, focusing on payment and marketing. In all of these businesses, private consumption has a large impact on market size and growth. In order to further improve the value of the group as a whole, we believe that it is essential not only to contribute to cashless transactions, but also to provide solutions to issues and opportunities through DX services that will help our merchants increase their sales.
However, while it is difficult to increase the population, we feel that we can contribute to expanding consumption by speeding up the cycle of money circulating in the market. Credit provision by financial institutions, including Resona, is exactly the kind of service that smoothes the flow of money. We hope that we will be able to promote the business activities of many customers through services that share the assets of Resona and Digital Garage and are jointly developed. We want to become an organization that people will say, “Using Resona’s and Digital Garage’s partnership services will dramatically grow your business”.
Aono: As the person in charge of creating new businesses, I intend to work with IT companies with which Resona Holdings has not been able to work, through Digital Garage Group, to challenge myself to create completely new businesses. Personally, I am interested in the entertainment field, and I hope to create some kind of service. There are limited ways for banks to approach young people, and I hope to create an opportunity to change that situation.
Fujimaki: As a person seconded from Resona Holdings to Digital Garage Group, I would like to become a hub between the two groups and connect people to people. I have come to realize that the depth of relationships between people is essential to producing results in creating new businesses. We want to go beyond cooperation between companies and continue to support smooth communication between the two groups. We hope to create an environment where services that become a hot topic in the world continue to be born.
Sakishima: I believe that this collaboration will also provide significant business opportunities for the development of global businesses. There are still few Fintech services originating in Japan that have a global presence, and we have a chance to be a pioneer in this area. Many Japanese companies do business with overseas companies, and to meet the needs of these businesses, we need to support cross-border payments and financial transactions. Most of the world’s Fintech companies are startups, and in order to succeed in this area, “speed,” which has been a keyword many times, is important.
However, while speed is important, accidents and other incidents in the financial business, including payment, can lead to irreparable situations. To prevent this from happening, it is extremely important to have Resona, a specialist in the financial industry, working with us, and we will continue to take on the challenge of becoming the best in Japan and the world by combining this with the strengths of the Digital Garage Group.
