[Blog]Banks Are Making a Serious Push into the Foreign Resident Market

2025-12-23

Banks Are Making a Serious Push into the Foreign Resident Market

In recent years, as the number of foreign residents in Japan continues to grow, financial institutions have begun to treat this segment as a strategic growth market. A clear example of this trend can be seen in a press release published on PR TIMES (PR TIMES article), which highlights how banks are expanding services specifically designed for foreign residents, including multilingual support and digitally driven onboarding processes.

This shift is also analyzed in an article by Toyo Keizai Online (Toyo Keizai Online article), which points out that banks are increasingly positioning themselves as essential infrastructure for the daily lives of foreign residents. Beyond simple bank account services, the article emphasizes the growing importance of solutions that are closely linked to employment, residency status, and administrative procedures.

The Emerging Connection Between Financial Services and Immigration Procedures

What these articles collectively suggest is that banks are no longer acting solely as financial intermediaries. Instead, they are evolving into “hubs” that support the broader social and legal foundations of life in Japan for foreign residents. Salary payments, remittances, housing, and insurance are now being considered alongside residency status and visa validity as interconnected elements of a single digital ecosystem.

At present, procedures such as extensions or changes of residence status are typically handled by the individual or through immigration professionals and submitted directly to the Immigration Services Agency. However, it is increasingly realistic to envision a future in which these administrative processes are seamlessly integrated into the digital platforms provided by financial institutions.

A Future Where Residence Status Extensions Are Simple and Online

Imagine a near future in which a banking app notifies a foreign resident that their period of stay is approaching its expiration date, automatically organizes the necessary documents, and allows them to submit an application for an extension of their period of stay online with minimal effort. Given the progress of the My Number system and Japan’s broader digital government initiatives, this scenario is no longer far-fetched.

The technological backbone that makes such a future possible is the Residence Procedures Application API. This API serves as a secure bridge between private-sector services and the Immigration Services Agency, forming a critical piece of infrastructure for the digital transformation of residence procedures.

The Residence Procedures Application API as an Invisible Infrastructure

Details regarding the Residence Procedures Application API are published on the Digital Agency’s official website, including a list of authorized service providers (List of Residence Procedures Application API Service Providers). This list introduces private entities that provide systems enabling online submission of immigration-related applications.

Notably, this list includes Nishiyama Chizai Co., Ltd., a company for which I serve as representative director. The company is officially recognized as a service provider for the Residence Procedures Application API. This reflects ongoing efforts to support the digitalization of immigration procedures and demonstrates private-sector involvement in enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of administrative processes.

Toward an Era of Integration Between Public Administration and Private Services

As banks deepen their engagement with the foreign resident market and administrative procedures continue to be digitalized, immigration processes are likely to shift from being “specialized” or exceptional tasks to routine online procedures. Platforms built on the Residence Procedures Application API will play a key role in connecting finance, employment, daily life support, and immigration administration.

In the coming years, it is expected that foreign residents will be able to complete applications for extensions of period of stay and other notifications more easily and reliably through services provided by banks and private companies. Being part of the infrastructure that enables this transformation also symbolizes a broader change in the environment surrounding immigration-related professional services in Japan.

Looking Ahead to the Future of Immigration Procedures

The systems and services surrounding foreign residents in Japan are at a major turning point. While the initiatives taken by banks are only one aspect of this transformation, closer collaboration between financial institutions, public administration, and private-sector support services has the potential to create a more transparent, user-friendly, and sustainable framework for both foreign residents and accepting organizations. We will continue to monitor these developments closely and work toward bridging制度 and practice as Japan’s immigration landscape evolves.