Application Rush Leads to Restrictions with JR East’s Bank Handling Salary Deposits and Home Loans as a Main Bank

Companies’ banking services continue to emerge from JAL, Yamada Denki, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, and more.

JR East’s banking service, [JRE BANK], is attracting attention. Although it is called a “bank,” JR East is a bank agency, belonging to the same category as banking services provided by JAL and Yamada Denki. So, why is JRE BANK gaining attention when other companies’ services are not making much of an impact? What exactly is a bank agency, and what benefits does it offer? An expert explains.

“Shinkansen fares are 40% off” An exceptional campaign unique to a railway company.

Right after this year’s Golden Week ended, JR East’s [JRE BANK] opened. The service details were announced in advance, including the impactful offer of “Shinkansen fares being 40% off,” which attracted not only railway enthusiasts but also general users, leading to a rush of applications and a temporary limitation on acceptance.

The “40% off Shinkansen” offer refers to the JRE BANK discount voucher, which provides a 40% discount on both one-way fares and one-way charges within JR East’s network. This exceptional benefit applies not only to the “fare” of the ticket but also to the “charges” for limited express tickets and Green Car tickets. Customers can receive two of these vouchers per year by meeting relatively low requirements. Additionally, the account opening campaign offers 4,000 points under lenient conditions (an extra 2,000 points if the account is used for salary deposits). There are also various other benefits, making this a remarkably generous offering after a long time.

JRE BANK is a branch of Rakuten Bank.

JRE BANK is not operated by JR East itself, obtaining a banking license and conducting business. Instead, its subsidiary Viewcard borrows Rakuten Bank’s platform to act as a “bank agency” and provide banking services. Therefore, in reality, it exists as an online branch of Rakuten Bank. Currently, there are three branches: JRE Hayabusa Branch, Toki Branch, and Komachi Branch.

In fact, there are already several such bank agencies. The earliest to start was Japan Airlines’ [JAL NEOBANK] in April 2020. Since then, companies from various industries such as Yamada Denki, Takashimaya, Tempstaff, and the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of professional baseball have continued to enter the market, and now there are more than 30 operators. Yamada Denki and Takashimaya borrow the platform of Sumishin SBI Net Bank, so they exist as Sumishin SBI Net Bank’s JAL Branch and Yamada Neo Bank Branch.