Japanese bank targets Asia's unbanked via mobile payments
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is set to launch its mobile payments app - "Jenius" - developed in cooperation with Indonesia's Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional (BTPN), which is 40% owned by SMBC. Following on from BTPN's first payments app released in March 2015, aimed at lower-income users, Jenius is targeted at the middle- to high-income bracket. It allows users to make payments to recipients even if the account number is unknown, and can request payments from multiple sources. Looking to tap into Asia's unbanked population, SMBC expects to have 100,000 users this year and 1.5 million by 2020, with plans to roll the app out to markets including Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar.
TOKYO -- Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. is going full tilt into mobile phone-based payment services in Asia as part of a push into financial technology -- or fintech.

The Japanese megabank has co-developed a smartphone payment app with Indonesia's Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional, in which it has a 40% stake. The Jenius app, released in August, allows users to make payments by inputting recipient information such as their bank account number. Even if the sender does not know the recipient's account number, money can be sent, leaving the recipient to fill in the information on the website.