TAKEFUJI CORPORATION 15-1 Nishi-Shinjuku 8-chome,Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-8654 JapanJuly 16, 2002
| For release | Immediately | |
| Contact | Media - Osamu Sasaki, | |
| Managing Director and General Manager of Public Relations | ||
| Tel: 81-3-33658030 | ||
| Financial Analysts | - Shizuo Mizukami, General Manager of Investor Relations | |
| - Kunio Takayama, Manager of Investor Relations | ||
| Tel: 81-3-33658011 | ||
| Stock Code No. 8564 - TYOSE | ||
Tokyo, Japan: July 16, 2002 - Takefuji Corporation (the "Company") announced starting acquiring retail rice stores throughout Japan preceding the issuance of Takefuji's original "Take Big Seven" MasterCard to be scheduled in coming October. The card will have an added credit card settlement function to the current cashing function. "A Useful Card in Daily Life" for Further Enhancement in Customer Service We are launching card business as a part of our customer services upgrading and expansion efforts while we have been focusing our business on small unsecured and non-guaranteed loans throughout Takefuji's business history in fulfilling our social role as the healthy financial backup for working households in Japan. We would like to provide our services to those people who have had very few opportunities in using credit cards and by doing so we try to expand our business to all local areas as well as metropolitan areas in Japan. The most important characteristics of the card is its daily business use in which people are able to enjoy the convenience of using credit cards in various occasions. We will actively develop membership network of stores that are closely related to people's daily lives but still haven't developed yet, such as hospitals, apothecaries, daily goods stores, vegetable shops, liquor stores, and prepared food shops. We are aiming for 10,000 member stores for the first year, which is the first attempt ever made in Japan. It goes without saying that the card can be used in any MasterCard member stores all over the world. Take Big Seven MasterCard- the Features -No initiation or annual membership fees -No minimum purchase requirement (able to purchase just a rice ball with the card) -Monthly repayment date is set according to customer's payday and repayment in full and additional payment are possible. -20% of credit limit for cashing can be used for shopping charges up to the ceiling of Yen 200,000 -Repayment can be made at over 2,000 Takefuji's ATMs and over 22,000 convenient store outlets. -The card can be used at over 22 million MasterCard member stores. -An IC chip built-in card assures high level of security and the vast memory capacity makes even more thorough service possible. Locally Based Credit Card Business through Acquiring Member Stores 1) Acquiring Member Stores We are targeting at approximately 35,000 rice retailers throughout Japan. This was made possible in cooperation with RiceKey Inc. (Head office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Mr. Masahiko Asano), a sales support business corporation for the nationwide network of rice stores, and we consider this as an appropriate approach as rice being the staple of Japanese diet. There are many rice retailers that sell daily necessities besides rice and we are planning to complete membership contracts with 3,000 retailers by March 2003. A locally based business can be realized as we acknowledge the customer base of small rice retail stores with 300 to 500 households and large stores with more than 2000 households, and which, we hope, will greatly help us to increase loan customers. We will soon start acquiring member stores targeting hospitals, apothecaries, daily goods stores, and liquor stores. 2) Characteristics of our Acquiring Member Stores -Mobile terminals enabling efficient transaction process are free on loan to member stores. -The on-line system of the same day settlement allows us to pay the member store on the following day. -As long as the card is used by Takefuji cardholders, the service charges to the member are set at a flat rate of 1% which is substantially lower than the average rate in the industry (usually 4 to 5%). New Card Business by Making Maximum Use of Our Core Business Experience We are planning to implement such credit card business to improve the convenience of customers by taking maximum advantage of our proud unique retail business model evidenced by the network of branch offices throughout Japan, the steady loan business and credit assessment system deeply rooted in the history of our consumer finance business since the establishment of the Company as well as contributing substantially to local communities and activating shopping streets around in the countryside. To see the attractive design of Takefuji's new original "Take Big Seven" MasterCard®, please click here. |
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by Takefuji co.