Sumitomo Mitsui launches Trunk, an AI digital financial agency for small businesses with less than 20 employees

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC) announced that it will offer a new AI-integrated digital financial services assistant "Trunk" for enterprises. This is the first time that a major Japanese bank can open a corporate bank account immediately on the next business day after submitting an application. Trunk's main target group is small businesses with fewer than 20 employees. Overall, it's about reaching potential customers who haven't been accepted by the big banks yet.

Introduction to Trunk

Trunk is a comprehensive financial service developed by introducing artificial intelligence technology, serving small and medium-sized enterprises as its main core business, integrating commercial cards, accounting systems and flexible credit functions. Customers can open a corporate account online through a smartphone or other device, which can be opened as soon as the next working day after application. Account opening procedures are also simplified, there is no need to submit company registration documents to open an account, and the service also has functions such as scanning invoice images and making transfer appointments.

Introducing the industry's lowest handling fees

Customers can postpone payment up to the next month by choosing the card payment method, without binding the signing contract or paying the monthly transfer fee, which allows SMEs to manage their finances flexibly and stabilize cash flow. At the same time, Mitsui has introduced ultra-low fees, and users in Sumitomo Mitsui Bank can transfer money to each other free of charge, and transfer to other banks will be charged 145 yen, which is the lowest in the industry. At the same time, corporate cards are issued to customers according to the credit status of enterprises and individuals.

The new system was developed by Infcurion

Trunk was developed by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Card Corporation, while using technology from fintech company Infcurion, which is preparing to go public this year, and last year Infcurion said it had received support from Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, with an investment of about 8 billion yen ($53.8 million) to value the company at more than 30 billion yen.

Trunk offers digital financial services similar to corporate accountants

Yukihiko Nishi, president of Sumitomo Mitsui Credit Card Company, said at a Trunk presentation on April 15 that in many cases, the president of a small and medium-sized enterprise has to personally handle all matters such as accounting, operations and financing, and Trunk offers a concept similar to hiring a private accountant to ease the workload of business managers.

Tatsuya Nakajima, president of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, admitted at a press conference that so far, small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 20 employees have not been the main target of large banks, including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Group, when helping companies open corporate accounts, there is an unwritten standard, that is, banks need to achieve annual sales of 1 billion to 3 billion yen or more, but Japanese companies are mostly small and medium-sized enterprises with a capital of less than 100 million yen. Corporate accounts are usually opened at regional banks or local credit unions.

The Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Group has set a goal for Trunk to acquire 300,000 companies within three years, equivalent to 10% of Japan's 3 million small and medium-sized enterprises.

This article by Sumitomo Mitsui launches Trunk, an AI digital financial agency for small businesses with less than 20 employees, first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.