Japan Post considers linking planned bank with private ATM network
Japan Post Corp, the firm in charge of preparing for the privatization of the nation’s postal services, is considering connecting the ATM system of the planned postal savings bank with those of private banks, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
Currently, ATMs at post offices are not linked with the systems at private banks, so people with savings at post offices must physically withdraw money in order to transfer it to their accounts at private banks.
The paper said about 1,600 private-sector banks, including credit unions and agricultural cooperatives, participate in the Data Telecommunication System of All Banks in Japan, known as the Zengin system, which settles domestic fund transfers among banks.
Post offices have not joined the system partly because they compete with private banks for customers, it said.
Ahead of the privatization of the postal savings service, Japan Post is considering asking the Japanese Bankers Association to approve the participation of the proposed postal bank in the Zengin system, the report said.
Yoshifumi Nishikawa, the president of Japan Post, instructed his staff to examine the plan, thinking it essential that the privatized postal savings bank join the Zengin system to provide proper settlement services to customers, sources close to the firm were quoted as saying
