INTERVIEW: MUFG Digital Bank to Offer Competitive Rates, Fees

Tokyo, July 7 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. will offer competitive deposit rates and fees through its digital bank, slated to open in the latter half of fiscal 2026, President and Group CEO Junichi Hanzawa has said. The digital bank will form the centerpiece of the megabank group’s retail financial service platform “emutt,” launched last year. Its cloud-based system will help lower operating costs compared with conventional mainframe systems, allowing the digital bank to offer competitive deposit rates. The leaner system will also enable the bank to “rapidly update its services in line with changing customer needs,” Hanzawa said in a recent interview. The bank’s architecture is “well suited to artificial intelligence” and allows the lender to “offer a variety of customer experiences,” he added, showing eagerness to attract more retail customers. During fiscal 2026, the megabank group also plans to launch an online inheritance support service within the retail financial platform. By integrating banking, asset management and inheritance support services, MUFG hopes to make emutt a platform that “customers would use throughout their lives,” Hanzawa said. Regarding cybersecurity risks posed by cutting-edge AI models, including Claude Mythos developed by U.S. startup Anthropic, Hanzawa said that the group “has begun using available AI tools to identify and repair system vulnerabilities.” Looking ahead, MUFG intends to “automate (patching and other tasks) through AI,” he said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]