SmartBank raises $20 million

Japanese fintech startup SmartBank has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Globis Capital Partners, with participation from Z Venture Capital, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, DBJ Capital, Global Brain, and ANRI.

Founded in 2019, SmartBank offers a digital finance management service called B/43, which is a combination of a household budgeting application and a Visa prepaid card. By charging a monthly budget to the card and making daily payments, expenses are automatically recorded and visualized, allowing users to manage their expenses. The startup targets individuals and couples, and it will soon release services for parents and kids to manage finance together.

SmartBank makes revenue in two ways – interchange fees and through lending – the startup allows users to borrow up to 50,000 JPY (approximately $365) and charge their account balance.

SmartBank says that its total number of downloads exceeded 100,000 in December, and now it aims to reach 1 million by the end of 2023.