In Japan, where ブックメーカー オッズ population is rapidly aging, inheritance cases continue to increase, yet a 2015 survey by ブックメーカー オッズ Trust Companies Association of Japan shows that although many people believe inheritance planning is necessary, only about 15 percent have taken concrete action. This gap stems from high fees and complex procedures for existing succession products and from ブックメーカー オッズ psychological burden of confronting one’s own mortality. When procedures stall, ブックメーカー オッズ risk that personal assets will be frozen rises and ブックメーカー オッズ circulation of funds in ブックメーカー オッズ economy can slow. For financial institutions, this is a serious management issue, because relationships built with customers can end if transactions are not passed to ブックメーカー オッズ next generation. SMBC Trust Bank Ltd. saw an outflow of customers in their retirement years, and many regional financial institutions experienced asset outflows from their regions due to inheritance. To tackle these issues, Yasuaki Inoue of ブックメーカー オッズ Trust Business Development Dept. at SMBC Trust Bank Ltd., and Kazuya Tachibana (now in ブックメーカー オッズ Compliance Planning Dept.) began developing ブックメーカー オッズ Smart Inheritance Account, a new succession product designed to ease customers’ inheritance planning concerns.
“Smart Inheritance Account” Features Three Key Characteristics:
Simple, Speedy and Flexible Asset Reallocation
Developed by Inoue and Tachibana, ブックメーカー オッズ Smart Inheritance Account is built on ブックメーカー オッズ philosophy of offering solutions to customers’ problems rather than simply selling a product that banks want to sell, and it reflects a deep understanding of ブックメーカー オッズ psychology of customers facing inheritance decisions. ブックメーカー オッズ team concluded that slow progress in inheritance procedures stems from an internal conflict between ブックメーカー オッズ desire not to burden family members and a reluctance to confront one’s own mortality, and they made easing this resistance ブックメーカー オッズ core of ブックメーカー オッズ product. To realize this, they refined ブックメーカー オッズ design. Instead of a trust product regulated by ブックメーカー オッズ Trust Business Act, they used ブックメーカー オッズ posthumous gift mechanism under ブックメーカー オッズ Civil Code, eliminating ブックメーカー オッズ need for documents such as ブックメーカー オッズ family register and certificate of inheritance agreement that are usually required when establishing a trust or at inheritance and significantly simplifying procedures.
By incorporating SMBC CLOUDSIGN, an e-contract service provided by SMBC Group, they enabled speedy, fully online contract execution, even with family members who live far away. ブックメーカー オッズ account also remains convenient for everyday use because assets in it can be freely withdrawn or replaced after ブックメーカー オッズ contract is signed.
ブックメーカー オッズ design philosophy appears in ブックメーカー オッズ details as well: ブックメーカー オッズ product was named ブックメーカー オッズ Smart Inheritance Account to avoid ブックメーカー オッズ word “will”, which can evoke thoughts of death, and brochures and other materials deliberately avoid illustrations and wording that might remind customers of old age, easing their psychological burden.
Patent Acquisition and
4,000 Contracts
Pave ブックメーカー オッズ Way
for Wider Expansion
ブックメーカー オッズ development process for ブックメーカー オッズ Smart Inheritance Account faced several challenges. A predecessor product developed earlier failed to gain market acceptance because it did not match customer needs. To understand why, ブックメーカー オッズ team conducted extensive interviews with frontline staff and redefined ブックメーカー オッズ target needs. Resources were limited to a three-person team and a budget of a few million yen, but they treated this constraint as an opportunity to focus on ブックメーカー オッズ two most pressing customer needs: simple procedures and ブックメーカー オッズ freedom to use assets as usual after ブックメーカー オッズ contract, which sharpened ブックメーカー オッズ product concept. In pursuing procedural simplicity, they also identified ブックメーカー オッズ challenge of handling documents by mail with family members living far away and turned to SMBC Group’s e-contract service, SMBC CLOUDSIGN. This solution sped up ブックメーカー オッズ contracting process and later became a crucial factor in obtaining ブックメーカー オッズ patent. Securing a patent to protect ブックメーカー オッズ product’s unique mechanism as intellectual property was another major challenge. Because ブックメーカー オッズ Smart Inheritance Account is not a trust product, it can be offered without a trust license, making it important to prevent imitation by other companies and legally protect ブックメーカー オッズ business’s uniqueness. Tachibana, who is also a lawyer, led ブックメーカー オッズ patent application, but ブックメーカー オッズ filing received two rejections from ブックメーカー オッズ Japan Patent Office. ブックメーカー オッズ team persisted and filed an appeal, strengthening their claims of novelty and inventive step by again highlighting ブックメーカー オッズ use of SMBC CLOUDSIGN, a point that had not been fully conveyed in earlier examinations. As a result, they obtained ブックメーカー オッズ patent in April 2025.
ブックメーカー オッズ white-labeling initiative, which aimed to offer ブックメーカー オッズ product as a proprietary service of partner financial institutions rather than as an SMBC Trust Bank product, did not always proceed as planned and negotiations with some regional financial institutions proved difficult. Even so, ブックメーカー オッズ team continued to build a track record. Since ブックメーカー オッズ Smart Inheritance Account was launched in 2020, Inoue has led efforts to steadily increase ブックメーカー オッズ number of contracts, achieving a cumulative total of roughly 4,000 over five years.
This performance won recognition from ブックメーカー オッズ Joyo Bank, Ltd. (Joyo Bank) and led to a partnership between ブックメーカー オッズ two banks. Looking back, Senior Researcher Masaoki Takahashi, New Business Development Team, Strategic Planning Group, Sales Planning Dept. at Joyo Bank, says, “I felt that ブックメーカー オッズ Smart Inheritance Account could address both ブックメーカー オッズ challenges our customers face and those we face as a financial institution. ブックメーカー オッズ know-how backed by 4,000 contracts was very attractive, and I decided that with this scheme we could achieve a speedy rollout.”
As a result, ブックメーカー オッズ first white-label agreement of its kind in Japan was concluded.
Deepening Partnerships to Enhance Functions and Expand to
Regional Communities, Aiming to Realize a Vibrant Japan
ブックメーカー オッズ partnership with Joyo Bank marked a new chapter for ブックメーカー オッズ Smart Inheritance Account. Inoue shares his vision: “We want to work with regional financial institutions as business partners to solve common social issues, rather than compete with them.”
Takahashi also sets out his expectations: “By offering this service, we want customers to feel glad they bank with Joyo Bank. Looking ahead, I hope we can further enhance ブックメーカー オッズ Smart Inheritance Account by feeding back insights from our frontline staff.”
ブックメーカー オッズ team aims to expand ブックメーカー オッズ Smart Inheritance Account to regional financial institutions nationwide and establish it as an entry-level product that lets people start easily with a portion of their assets, such as savings, before they consider a full-fledged testamentary trust. Spreading smooth asset succession through local communities in this way supports people’s lives and helps revitalize ブックメーカー オッズ circulation of funds throughout ブックメーカー オッズ Japanese economy. As for ブックメーカー オッズ future, Inoue says, “I want to help realize a vibrant Japan where regions are revitalized and people, funds and vitality circulate throughout ブックメーカー オッズ country.”
ブックメーカー オッズ initiative was not originally launched to solve a major social issue. Reflecting on ブックメーカー オッズ journey, Tachibana, who co-led ブックメーカー オッズ development, concludes: “Rather than setting some grand goal, we first faced ブックメーカー オッズ problems of ブックメーカー オッズ customers right in front of us and delivered a solution. Through this initiative, I have come to realize that such steady, cumulative efforts are what ultimately lead to creating social value.”