Message from the President: Embracing Change with Purpose and Sustainability

Changing Environment and Stakeholder Expectations

In recent years, JAPAN POST BANK has had to adapt to a rapidly changing business environment, including the Bank of Japan's monetary policy shift, rising domestic interest rates, and the rapid evolution of digital technologies such as generative AI, in addition to structural changes such as a shrinking population, an aging society, and shrinking regional economies. Furthermore, our stakeholders have broader expectations of us than ever before, such as a greater requirement to provide responses and disclosures related to sustainability management and human capital management.

More Focused on Fulfilling Our Purpose

Against this backdrop, we have set out three social missions that we will fulfil as part of our medium-term management plan and that reaffirm our purpose of "We aim for the happiness of our customers and employees, and to contribute to the development of societies and local communities" and our management philosophy of "We aim to be 'the most familiar and trusted bank' by using customer feedback as our compass for tomorrow." In addition, we have set ourselves four priority issues (materiality) that will guide our efforts to achieve sustainable management, whereby we both enhance our corporate value and resolve social issues.

Priority Issues (Materiality)

Besides identifying and enumerating our materiality issues, we also manage our performance and progress against them by linking them to the target KPIs of our medium-term management plan. For example, we have set target KPIs such as "the number of accounts registered in the Yucho Bankbook App" for "Providing safe and secure financial services to anyone and everyone throughout Japan," and "the balance of ESG-themed investments and financing" for "Reducing environmental impact," and we raise these targets further as we achieve them. We have set these targets based on the strength of our business platform, which is one of the largest in Japan, with approximately 120 million ordinary deposit accounts and a deposit base of over 190 trillion yen. We have also set target KPIs such as "GP* business-related investments" for "Contributing to regional economic expansions" and "overall employee satisfaction rate" for "Participation of diverse human resources and sophistication of governance," and are striving to reform our existing structure without being bound by conventional business models and ways of thinking. We believe that solving social issues through our business activities and providing value to our various stakeholders will in turn increase our corporate value.

* GP (General Partner): Fund management entity responsible for selecting projects, making investment decisions, etc.

Reforming Our Corporate Culture

As indicated by the setting of "Participation of diverse human resources" as a priority issue, one of my most important missions is to do even more to reform our organizational culture and climate and improve internal communication in order to promote sustainable management. JAPAN POST BANK has over 10,000 employees, and making the most of their strengths is essential for realizing the Bank’s management strategy. I will lead the efforts to reform our organizational culture and climate and ensure we take on the challenge of financial reform with a united front, under our unwavering purpose and management philosophy, with the aim of achieving more customer-oriented management and enhancing our corporate value. I believe that these efforts will further enhance our sustainability management.

We will continue to engage in earnest dialogue with our stakeholders and seek to combine the enhancement of corporate value with the resolution of social issues, as a top Japanese bank offering a unique proposition and in line with our aim to be "the most familiar and trusted bank." We ask for your continued kind support and encouragement.

Takayuki Kasama
Director, President and Representative Executive Officer
JAPAN POST BANK Co., Ltd.