By Miyu Okada
Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Japanese megabank MUFG Bank Ltd. aims to draw out value worth 10 billion yen in gross business profit by utilizing artificial intelligence, President and CEO Masakazu Osawa said during an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun.
Osawa, who assumed his position on April 1, said the effect of AI is not simply to reduce costs, but also to increase time spent communicating with customers. AI is planned to be utilized in "M-tto," the personal financial service of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group $(MUFG)$ Inc., to improve the quality of proposals for customers, he added.
The following is excerpted from the interview.
The Yomiuri Shimbun: The adoption of AI is advancing in financial institutions. How does MUFG Bank utilize the technology?
Masakazu Osawa: In dividing the flow of our banking operations into three phases of upstream, midstream and downstream, we are intensifying our focus on midstream AI usage. In corporate banking, we use AI to promptly conduct market, industry and competitor analyses, thereby streamlining the preliminary stages of proposal development. We are also utilizing AI at call centers to route customer calls to the appropriate department based on inquiry content.
Yomiuri: What are the expected benefits of utilizing AI?
Osawa: Our goal is not to simply reduce costs. We are aiming for an effect resulting in increased time spent developing proposals and engaging with customers during visits. We intend to draw out value worth 10 billion yen in gross business profit by allocating time (made available by AI) to sales activities and other operations.
Yomiuri: Financial institutions handle personal information. What are the challenges of utilizing AI in this regard?
Osawa: Finance is an industry with heavy responsibilities. If a customer suffers a loss due to advice provided by AI, we cannot excuse our liability by blaming the AI. We will proceed cautiously with the direct application of AI in customer-facing operations.
The difficulty in utilizing AI lies in incorporating tacit knowledge. We have introduced a system that utilizes AI in the process ranging from customer dialogue to the preparation and review of loan approval documents. However, when making loan decisions, evaluating profits is not enough -- it is necessary to comprehensively assess other complex factors, such as the stability of revenue, the quality of the business and its future potential. Replicating this (with AI) is not easy.
Yomiuri: To what extent do you want to utilize AI in the future?
Osawa: We want to utilize AI also in developing systems. We envision a future in which AI can autonomously decide how to run multiple systems as well as conduct testing and verification. We want to expand into areas where such holistic optimization decisions can be made by AI. However, human involvement remains essential for corporate governance and data management.
Connecting various services for M-tto
Yomiuri: Please elaborate on the future strategy for "M-tto."
Osawa: We have a plan to seamlessly integrate our services, such as securities, centered on the digital bank we aim to launch in the second half of fiscal 2026 (ending March 2027). We will gradually improve the quality of proposals tailored to each individual customer by utilizing AI.
Yomiuri: What are your plans for "M-tto Squares," branches for individual customers?
Osawa: Going forward, we will consider refining our branch strategy. There are still plenty of things you can only do at a physical branch. We would like to analyze various factors, such as whether the primary motivation of customers visiting branches is to conduct financial transactions.
Seizing opportunities for digital infrastructure and M&A
Yomiuri: MUFG Bank is reinforcing its overseas operations in areas such as Asia and the United States. What is the direction of your future strategy?
Osawa: We are committed to the continued expansion of our overseas operations to build a diverse and resilient portfolio that capitalizes on global economic growth.
In Asia, we will work on cutting costs and strengthening our business foundation in Thailand. In North America, we want to capitalize on financing opportunities for digital infrastructure and M&A, especially in the United States, and increase revenue through such activities as collaboration with Morgan Stanley.
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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.
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April 23, 2026 02:20 ET (06:20 GMT)
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