Recycling firm ReNet Japan Group Inc. will team up with a Japanese fintech startup to provide internet banking services in Cambodia as early as the spring of 2021.

ReNet Japan and Soramitsu Holdings AG, a Japanese venture based in Switzerland, will establish a joint operation in Cambodia by April, with ReNet Japan holding an 80 percent stake and Soramitsu the remainder, according to a ReNet Japan statement released on Thursday.

Soramitsu is seeking to put into full operation its blockchain technology-based digital payment platform "Bakong" which it developed for the National Bank of Cambodia and has been testing since July 2019. ReNet Japan offers loans under its microfinance system in the Southeast Asian country.

The duo plans to develop a credit-scoring system by combining the payment data of Soramitsu and the loan data of ReNet Japan.

According to the statement, they aim to expand financial services for Cambodians without access to financial institutions, constituting around 80 percent of the population over the age of 15. The venture will lend via the smartphones that are owned by most people in the country.

They plan to develop core digital banking systems for other Southeast Asian countries in the future. (NNA/Kyodo)

==Kyodo

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