The future of fintech in the context of the Japanese main bank system

This chapter contemplates the future of Fintech in the context of the Japanese main bank system with the focus on the nontechnical side of Fintech. It first explores the recent development and the current state of Fintech and examines it from the viewpoints of technology and banking for having balanced ideas. It then reviews relevant frameworks, including the theory of diffusion of innovations, as its research foundation of this study. To envisage how Fintech will be incorporated into the Japanese banking sector, it revisits the main bank system and identifies the intrinsic connection between the banking system and the existing collectivistic values as the influential attributes of the theoretical framework. A qualitative meta-synthesis shows that Fintech is likely to replace banking processes and products that are remote from the Japanese shared ways of thinking, while the MBS nature of relationship banking will remain in existence. The grounded element of the findings suggests that Japan’s strength is based on its collectivist culture, and Fintech will blend into the MBS over the course of its future development. This chapter concludes that Fintech is a supporting tool compatible with the core competencies of Japanese wealth creation, including the MBS, which supports Japanese business operations spanning worldwide.