SmartBank provides a finance management app paired with prepaid Visa-branded cards (B/43 My Card, B/43 Pair Card, B/43 Junior Card) and a deposit account that enables payments and P2P transfers. The app targets users in their 20s–30s and couples, and the company reports more than 1 million downloads. SmartBank has obtained a money-transfer license and, in April, a prepaid payment instrument license that allows it to hold user deposits—distinct from peers that cannot hold deposits. It has added product features such as credit-card and bank-account linking and an AI receipt‑reading function using generative AI to act as an AI-driven financial advisor. Revenue today relies largely on interchange fees (IRF), and the company is expanding revenue streams with BNPL, a subscription (B/43 Plus), and referral fees. SmartBank plans to grow headcount (from 49 in October to ~100 by 2025, with half in engineering) and to evolve into a broader bank-like financial platform. SmartBank offers B/43, a combined prepaid card and household budgeting app that reflects spending in real time when users charge monthly budgets to the card. The product includes pair cards for couples and a junior card for parent–child allowance management. Since its April 2021 release the app has reached 1 million cumulative downloads and monthly GMV has expanded to tens of billions of yen. The company reports it has achieved product–market fit with family and couple users and plans to invest in further user growth, product development, and hiring. Financially, SmartBank previously raised ¥3.0 billion in equity and has now completed a ¥1.15 billion debt financing, bringing cumulative funding to ¥4.15 billion. The new funds will be used for working capital for the B/43 business and for growth initiatives.

Total raised

$34M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Debt Financing

Latest activity

Nov 2024