We’re dealing with a major megacorp, so is this indicative of where they want to go with bank access with no ATM card and no online PC access, forcing you to install an app for data harvesting? Does this factor in with the moves of the major operating systems to developer programs and limiting what software you can load on your computers? Will you be denied access if not running one of the main phone operating systems, Android or iOS? As I run LineageOS on my phones. Or is it part of the roadmap for a move to stablecoins to be adapted into CBDCs? Personally, these digital only banks are just about getting you in their data harvesting system, as I just got a $400 offer from my credit card company to open a bank account (data harvesting is profitable), and they’re always trying to get me to install their shopping extension which would track my activity, also with an offer for higher cash back on food and entertainment if I switch my card, all to incentivize me to use it more for those purchases so they can track me. Other than online purchases with virtual card numbers, I primarily use cash or crypto. Whatever the plan is, they have something in the works for us all, and agentic AI shenanigans will probably be the excuse for compliance (false flag cyber events?).
Posted by BeauHD on Wednesday November 04, 2026 @12:00PM from the mobile-only dept.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group plans to launch Emut Bank in early 2027 as the first digital bank affiliated with a major Japanese financial institution to eliminate ATM cards, “instead having customers confirm identities using the bank’s smartphone app for additional security amid a rising tide of cyberattacks,” reports Nikkei Asia Review. The smartphone app will also be the only way to manage deposits, with no PC-based banking. From the report:
Security has become a greater concern recently. As artificial intelligence advances, Japan has seen a surge in cyberattacks targeting companies, as well as a rise in phishing attacks aimed at stealing personal information, often targeting bank accounts. The technology being used by Emut was developed by Seven Bank, the consumer finance unit of Seven & i Holdings, operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores. Emut customers will be able to withdraw money from Seven Bank’s roughly 28,000 ATMs. The network is expected to gradually expand to cover the 16,000 or so ATMs at FamilyMart convenience stores. Although MUFG Bank ATMs will not be accessible, MUFG will consider changing this in the future.
Scrapping cash cards represents a shift in what has for decades been consumers’ main method of withdrawing money. The former Sumitomo Bank — a predecessor of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. — is believed to have been Japan’s first bank to implement cash cards, in 1969. The step away from cash cards by MUFG, Japan’s largest financial institution, is likely to spur other banks to follow suit. […] Eschewing cash cards will reduce Emut’s costs, which will let it offer interest rates on deposits that are expected to be higher than MUFG Bank’s usual 0.5%, depending on the terms. Interest can be paid out daily, rather than twice a year — a first for a Japanese bank.