Rakuten International Commercial Bank Co (樂天國際商銀) earlier this month applied with the Financial Supervisory Commission for an operating license, leading two other Web-only banks, the commission said yesterday.
The bank, which is 51 percent owned by Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten Inc and 49 percent by IBF Financial Holdings Co (國票金控), completed its one-month operation simulation test before submitting the application, Banking Bureau Chief Secretary Phil Tong (童政彰) told a news conference in New Taipei City.
The commission is reviewing the simulation record, one of the materials it uses to determine whether to grant a license, Tong said.
The commission has yet to receive applications from the two other Web-only banks — Next Bank (將來銀行) and Line Bank (連線商業銀行), Tong said, adding that it expects all three virtual banks to launch their operations by the end of this year.
“If everything goes smoothly, Rakuten International Commercial Bank would be able to begin operating at the start of October,” bank chairman Chien Ming-jen (簡明仁) told an investors’ conference in Taipei yesterday.
It might even be the first among the three to launch services in the nation, he said.
The bank completed its corporate registration in May, after the commission gave it permission to establish the bank in July last year.
For the first year after launch, the bank is expected to focus on personal deposits and loans, mortgages and corporate financing, while capital expenditure would mainly be used to build up its system and on recruitment, Chien said.
Separately, IBF Financial reported that its net profit rose 10.13 percent to NT$1.49 billion (US$50.35 million) in the first half of the year.
The company attributed the increase to a 7 percent profit gain at its bills finance unit International Bills Finance Corp (IBFC, 國際票券) to NT$1.3 billion and a 4.59 percent gain at its securities arm IBF Securities Co (國票證券) to NT$387 million.
IBFC — which acts as a broker and dealer of short-term bills, certifier, underwriter and guarantor of commercial paper — would concentrate on green financing to gain new momentum.
Its lending surged 253 percent year-on-year to NT$12.24 billion during the first six months of this year, IBFC said.
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