Japan’s megabanks study shared ATMs and more self-services

TOKYO -- Japan's three megabanks are trying to cut costs by reducing the number of ATMs and full-service branches as country shifts to a cashless economy and the Bank of Japan's negative interest rate policy erodes profits. With banks forced to pursue ... ( read original story ...)

Japanese Bank to Offer Blockchain Payments in 2020

Over the past 18 months, MUFG, the world's fourth-largest bank, has been working with Akamai to design a blockchain built on Akamai's cloud-based Intelligent Platform to handle 1 million transactions per second at latencies of less than 2 seconds. ( read original story ...)

Japan Ministry Releases Scandal Papers It Said Were Destroyed

Japan’s Finance Ministry released records relating to a sale of public ... to a meeting of the directors of the lower house budget committee, according to Seiji Osaka, a director and lawmaker with the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party ... ( read original story ...)

Japan urges more of Latin America to join TPP

Brazilian Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes Ferreira expressed hopes for greater access to the Japanese market in a recent interview with Nikkei. But with both Mexico and Brazil electing new presidents in 2018, the global trend toward protectionism could spread. ( read original story ...)

Half of Japan’s eateries plan price hikes this year

TOKYO -- Spending more on ingredients and increasingly scarce workers, nearly half of restaurant operators in Japan plan to raise prices this fiscal year, a Nikkei survey shows. The poll from mid-March to late April targeted 551 companies with food service ... ( read original story ...)

Nikkei pulls back from 3-month high as Asian markets dip

Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -0.18% closed down 0.2%, after hitting a 3½-month high in Monday trading. Miners, banks and insurance companies led the losses in Tokyo, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. 8306, -0.24% and MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings ... ( read original story ...)

Japan Post Bank picks up stocks as yen risks seen subdued: CIO

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Post Bank has been buying local stocks since February’s major correction in global share prices, its chief investment officer said on Tuesday, as the risk of a spike in the yen, which would hurt stock valuations, is seen as limited. ( read original story ...)

Bank of Japan signals rethink on buying ETFs

"The BOJ could have started stealth tapering. Or it could be just slowing down the pace after it bought too much in February and March," said Shingo Ide, a strategist at NLI Research Institute. Noriko Hayashi The question of when the Bank of Japan should ... ( read original story ...)