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We are implementing initiatives for the realization of a sustainable society through our business activities.
We aim to help maintain and expand a sound consumer finance market through activities such as financial economic education programs to help people acquire accurate knowledge of money matters and enable them to make appropriate decisions.
We are working to make financial economic education more widespread, so that local residents and students who are the future leaders of society will be able to acquire accurate knowledge of money matters and make appropriate decisions.
Since 2011, PROMISE financial and economic educational seminars have been held to improve the financial literacy of students holding the key to the future and members of the community, primarily at our customer service plazas located throughout Japan. Over 1.55 million people nationwide have taken part in the seminars to date. (Total number of seminar attendees as of June 30, 2023) Since 2020, in addition to visiting schools and companies to conduct lectures at their request, we have also been using web conferencing systems to hold live interactive seminars.
We endeavor to set loan limits not simply to comply with the Money Lending Business Act and other laws and regulations, but rather to ensure that customers do not overstretch themselves with their repayments. We determine an appropriate loan amount based on the loan amount calculated by our independently developed Automated Credit Provision System and the judgment of loan managers.
To relieve customer's money concerns, we offer a range of related services, including advice on borrowing, repayments and other financial matters, referring customers to specialists depending on their circumstances, and providing support with family budget diagnosis.
For fiscal 2022, we have adopted the basic policy of “striving to earn and improve customer loyalty by steadfastly pursuing CX” to exceed customer expectations, and are committed to strengthening CX initiatives through concerted company-wide efforts to promote effective CS and CX activities.
As for initiatives to improve services that pursue the customer-first approach, since January 2015 we have listed ideas, initiatives and customer feedback leading to CS and CX improvements in our web-based internal newsletter.
For the proposals developed based on the customer feedback employees field from customers, related departments coordinate to consider improvements in an effort to improve service. By sharing regular customer feedback across the company including with top management, we develop a feel for the immediate priorities of customers, and to exceed their expectations we consider the role of customer service and work to respond promptly.
As members of society, SMBC Consumer Finance and all its employees participate in activities to brighten up people's lives.
Our Customer Service Plazas act as centers for regional communication. We make a positive contribution to life in the regions in which we do business and help revitalize them by actively engaging regional communities, listening to their needs, and working together with the people that live in these communities.
The internal fund-raising system Yakusoku-no-Mori* has been set up as a scheme that allows employees to think about and participate in contributing to society in a more familiar way. Through the scheme, we provide support for children's welfare facilities (Japan National Council of Children's Homes), children's self-reliance living assistance services (National Council of Self-Reliance Support Homes) and projects to raise hearing dogs (The Japan Hearing Dogs for Deaf People).
We have also installed donation-oriented vending machines in the company that use a portion of proceeds to support Japan Hearing Dogs for Deaf People as part of ongoing support activities.
* Matching donation scheme where employees determine the destination and monthly amount of donations.
Project | Cumulative total |
---|---|
Foster home promotion services | 1,684,960 Yen |
Children's Independent Living Support Project | 1,396,100 Yen |
The Hearing Assistance Dog Training Project | 1,799,218 Yen |
At the employee cafeteria in our head office building, we have introduced TABLE FOR TWO (“TFT”), a social contribution activity made in 20-yen increments. Each time an employee pays an extra 20 yen on top of an employee cafeteria purchase, that amount pays for one school lunch donated to children in developing countries through the NPO TABLE FOR TWO International. The TFT program has also been introduced at SMBC Group companies.
We implement measures to alleviate financial anxiety experienced by victims of large-scale disasters, such as the Great East Japan Earthquake, the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes, and major rainstorms in July 2020. For example, we provide loan repayment assistance, adjustments of repayment terms, or reductions or waivers of principal and/or interest payments based on the individual circumstances of victims. We also provide interest-free support loans for a fixed period until victims are able to rebuild their lives.
In April 2020, we also introduced a repayment support system to help people whose incomes were impacted by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We also devote our efforts to sponsoring educational and cultural activities and events, driven by our desire to help create a vibrant society in which people can enjoy happy and healthy lives.
Inaugurated in 1996, the Promise Essay Contest (sponsored by The Sankei Shimbun and co-sponsored by SMBC Consumer Finance) is based on the concept of taking another look at the importance of human relationships in modern society and life in order to rediscover the importance of promises. The 27th contest in 2022 attracted over 6,500 entries from people across a wide range of age groups.
The contest is highly regarded in the educational community because of its contribution to the improvement of Japanese language education and essay-writing skills. It is especially popular with junior and senior high school students, and many schools submit group entries.
In an effort to achieve regional revitalization through cooperation in events and sports promotion and a boost for young people who will forge the future, we are sponsoring table tennis competitions where Japanese athletes have performed well in recent years. We also sponsor Kawasaki Frontale, a professional soccer team.
As a member of the SMBC Group, SMBC Consumer Finance aims to help preserve the global environment by instilling a strong environmental awareness among its employees, and promoting environmentally friendly activities.
Learn more about the environmental preservation activities of SMBC Group
As part of SMBC Group, the company will aim to ensure that its individual employees have a high level of environmental awareness, and will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.
April 1, 2023
Ryohei Kaneko
President and Representative Director
SMBC Consumer Finance Co., Ltd.
Environmental Policy (PDF: 79KB)
SMBC Consumer Finance works to improve customer convenience and reduce the use of paper resources by promoting digitalization (online account summary and card-less transactions by App Loan). We also undertake earth-conscious business activities by phasing in LED lighting when we open new branches and refurbish existing branches to save energy in-house.
Our employees actively participate in activities to beautify the areas around each of our business units.
We have established eco rules to realize sustainable society so that each employee is practicing an approach to energy saving and resource saving.
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