Index and Promise Decide to Establish Joint Venture

Partners to set up comprehensive mobile information site

and start mobile cashing service

Index Corporation (President: Yoshimi Ogawa; Head Office: Setagaya-ku, Tokyo) and Promise Co., Ltd. (President: Hiroki Jinnai; Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) have decided to establish a joint venture in the mobile field. Following the capital and business alliance concluded in December 2005, the two partners had been considering new businesses that would utilize the strengths of both companies. Based on those discussions, Index and Promise decided to set up a joint venture to achieve an early establishment of a service base for these new businesses and ensure a quick start to services. In addition, the joint venture is expected to contribute to business expansion and smooth and speedy development of the business.

The joint venture will aim to establish businesses during 2006 that will take maximum advantage of synergies provided by the business tie-up sometime. The two top priority businesses include setting up a comprehensive mobile site including a social networking site (SNS) function and a mobile cashing service for small cash amounts that will target the settlement needs of site users.

[Outline of Joint Venture]

[Purpose of Joint Venture]

The two companies will combine their know-how to acquire new customers and develop a new earnings base. Index will contribute its advanced mobile technology and know-how, promotional capabilities utilizing diverse mobile content, and a range of mobile solutions. Promise will contribute credit scoring and loan management know-how from its consumer finance business.

[Outline of the Services Provided by the Joint Venture]

1.  Establishing a comprehensive information site

Based on the key concept of "Providing a playground that will attract users," the joint venture plans to set up a comprehensive information site to attract and capture potential customers. To achieve this, the site will distribute highly popular services, such as fortune telling and games, and offer such functions as SNS. 

2.  Establishing portal to mobile cashing service on comprehensive information site

To be able to respond to the cash needs of users of the comprehensive information site, there will be a portal on the site for the mobile cashing service. Working with the comprehensive information site, the mobile cashing service will try to match up its services with the cashing needs of site users.

3.  Offering mobile cashing services for small amounts

This service will offer cashing services over the Internet for small amounts of money to meet the diversified settlement needs of mobile phone users. In addition to escrow services (payment and item delivery intermediary services) for the Internet auctions on the comprehensive information site, customers will be able to use Promise's proprietary direct money transfer service, Daifuri*, as well as cardless cashing services. The joint venture plans to limit customers using these services to cash amounts of 100,000 yen or less, with a ceiling of 50,000 yen for first time customers.

*  Daifuri is a money transfer service offered to Promise's customers through a business tie-up with The Japan Net Bank, Limited. Using this service, customers may designate a bank account to which their free cashing loans will be directly transferred upon approval.

Outline of Index Corporation

Outline of Promise Co., Ltd.