Cell phone firms eye new anti-fraud rules

Domestic cell phone companies, including the nation's [Japan's] three leading firms, will voluntarily introduce new rules to prevent so-called remittance fraud using cell phones, such as only allowing up to five lines per customer, it was learned Wednesday.

Police will cooperate by, for instance, responding to inquiries from cell phone retailers requesting information about driver's licenses to prevent the use of forged licenses.

At present, driver's licenses are used for about 70 percent of identifications when customers concluding cell phone contracts at shop counters need to prove who they are.

The new voluntary rules will be enforced as soon as NTT Docomo Inc., SoftBank Mobile Corp. and KDDI Corp. and others are ready to implement the regulations. The exact timing for the new scheme is being coordinated among concerned parties, sources said.

The total costs incurred by remittance fraud cases has topped 100 billion yen over the past four years, with some victims driven to suicide.

In one particularly common style of remittance fraud, a con man concludes several dozen contracts under one name using a forged driver's license. He and his accomplices then concoct stories and begin calling people to try to persuade them to send money.

In response to the problem, the Liberal Democratic Party established a task force on combatting remittance fraud, headed by House of Representatives member Isshu Sugawara, which reached a basic agreement on the rules with cell phone firms and the National Police Agency.

According to the agreement, the number of cell phone lines that can be held under one person's name will be limited to five, the sources said.

In addition, when cell phone firms judge it will be necessary to confirm the identities of clients when concluding contracts with them, they will ask police to confirm the authenticity of the customers' licenses.

If a customer refuses to submit to the policy inquiry, firms will decline a contract, and will contact police if they become suspicious about a customer, the sources added.

Cell phone firms eye new anti-fraud rules : National : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)

Blogged with the Flock Browser

First Bank Steps Into Chinese Market via Cooperation with Sumitomo Mitsui

The Chinese remittance market is starting to open.

Taipei, June 12, 2008 (CENS)

First Commercial Bank has successfully stepped into the Chinese banking market, despite the absence of business points there, thanks to the cooperation with Japan`s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.

Chang Chao-shun, chairman of First Bank, pointed out yesterday (June 11) that the bank has successfully provided yuan-denominated loans to a number of Taiwanese-invested enterprises in China for working-capital use via the Chinese branches of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking. The bank, though, still plans to set up its own Chinese branches, according to Chang.

The business is part of the cooperative venture between the two banks following their signing of the memorandum of cooperation on Dec. 17, last year. During a meeting reviewing the achievements of the cooperation last week in Taipei, ranking officials of the two banks looked into the results of their cooperation in the fields of corporate banking, greater China business, syndicated loan, forex remittance, cooperation between overseas branches, credit card, trust custody, forex trading, fund maneuvering, consumer banking, risk management, and personnel exchanges.

An official of First Bank noted that both parties have attained good results in the fields of client recommendation, syndicated loans, forex remittance, financial trading, loans for Taiwanese enterprises in China, and personnel exchanges. Thanks to the assistance of Sumitomo Mitsui, First Bank, for instance, has solicited substantial amount of banking business for Japanese individuals and enterprises in Taiwan.

The official reported that the bank will intensify its cooperation with the Japanese partner, especially in the core businesses of greater China market, domestic and international syndicated loan, wealth management, and marketing, this year.(by Philip Liu)

CENS.com – The Taiwan Economic News

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Remittance from Japan to Peru

There is a large population of Peruvians of Japanese decent (Nikkei people) who live in Japan. The number of Nikkei people in Japan has been growing since the late 1980's. Japanese banks have up to now not been in the business of facilitating the transfer of money from the Peruvian workers back to Peru.

An organization called Convenio Kyodai was formed to help Peruvians working in Japan to overcome language and cultural barriers. An informative narrative on a Peruvian experience in Japan can be found here.

There are growing numbers of Dekasegi entrepreneurs who return to Peru from Japan to start new businesses. Japan has an increasing linkage to Latin American countries especially Brazil, Peru and to a lesser extent Argentina.

There are many opportunities to create robust remittance networks beyond the United States and Latin America. We at IPM are uniquely positioned to facilitate remittance transactions worldwide because of our established long term relationships.