SBI Shinsei Bank, part of Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Group, is preparing to launch a crypto rewards programme that will allow deposit account holders to receive cryptocurrency vouchers based on the interest earned on their savings.
Under the scheme, depositors will receive exchange vouchers equivalent to 20% of their deposit interest payments. Those vouchers will be redeemable for Bitcoin, Ethereum, or XRP through SBI VC Trade, the group’s dedicated crypto trading arm, with conversion carried out at prevailing market rates at the time of redemption.
A three-month trial campaign is set to begin on June 10, covering fixed-term deposits and savings accounts with maturities ranging from three months to five years. Customers will be required to hold or open an SBI VC Trade account to access the voucher conversion feature. SBI Shinsei currently holds approximately 4.33 million individual deposit accounts.
The programme is designed primarily as a customer acquisition tool for the group’s digital asset business, offering existing bank customers a low-friction entry point into crypto rather than a direct investment mechanism. Given that the bank’s headline deposit rate stands at around 0.42% annually, the voucher amounts will be modest in absolute terms.
The move comes as Japanese financial institutions accelerate their engagement with digital assets. Japan’s three largest banks — MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho — are separately reported to be in discussions around a joint stablecoin issuance, with a basic agreement expected before the end of fiscal 2026.
