ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter "ITOCHU") announced today that it has formed a capital and business alliance with ABCash Technologies Inc. (headquartered in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Takahiro Kodama, CEO; hereinafter "ABCash Technologies"), which provides online financial education services.

As we have entered the era of the 100-year lifespan, increasing number of people have "a vague feeling of anxiety about money in the future." In addition, it is said that more and more populations are getting interested in stocks, debt securities, investment trusts, and other asset management^*1. In particular, needs for financial education for people mainly in their 20s and 30s are increasing in Japan.

ABCash Technologies provides "ABCash," where expert consultants give one-to-one training for women in the Millennium generation who have anxieties about money, from an unbiased standpoint. These unbiased training sessions have gained in popularity, and the accumulated number of students of the service has reached 10,000 people since its founding in 2018. ABCash Technologies have also launched "ABCare", a benefit package service that provides financial education content and personal training for corporate members. The service has already been used by many leading companies.

ITOCHU has formed a capital and business alliance with ABCash Technologies, aiming to jointly develop businesses. ITOCHU has a broad business portfolio in the retail finance area, including Pocket Card Co., Ltd., which is the core player operating a credit card / shopping credit business, Money Communications Inc., which is developing a payroll prepayment business, and Paidy Inc., which operates a postpaid settlement business.
Through this capital and business alliance, ITOCHU and ABCash Technologies will mutually utilize the service foundation and networks that ITOCHU possesses and the proprietary "Financial Science Data" ABCash Technologies has accumulated to jointly develop and deploy new financial services that contribute to eliminating individuals' anxieties about money, which can also be considered a social issue, based on the market-in approach.

■ABCash : https://service.abcash.co.jp/ (Japanese)
■ABCare : https://biz.abcash.co.jp/ (Japanese)