Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group is partnering with Google to develop a new digital marketing platform that will sit on Google Cloud.
This platform will be the “central point of engagement for retail customers,” the group said in a statement, adding that Mizuho hopes to provide new products and service experiences to its customers.
Mizuho, a bank holding company, is one of the world’s largest full-service financial conglomerates and has offices in over 100 locations over the world, employing approximately 60,000 employees worldwide.
The bank will use Google Cloud’s data analytics to generate “real-time insights about customers’ preferences and anticipate their needs”, and also use the cloud provider’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology to deliver “hyper-personalised experiences that increase customer satisfaction”, Mizuho’s president and group CEO Masahiro Kihara said.
Building on Google Cloud, Mizuho also plans to create a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform.
BaaS platforms allow digital banks and other third parties to connect with a bank’s systems through APIs and build banking products on top of the bank’s regulated infrastructure.
With this initiative, Mizuho aims to create and curate new digital products and services that appeal to customers at scale, and build more loyal and long-term relationships with users, Kihara said.
Mizuho will also tap into Google Cloud’s security engineering expertise in order to modernise and make its digital infrastructure and system development process more agile and secure.
The bank aims to adopt Google Cloud’s approach to product development and problem-solving into its corporate culture and “become a destination for top talent”.
“We’re working with Google to enhance our operational capabilities, innovate across our online and mobile channels, and transform our corporate culture”, Kihara added.
In addition to this initiative, Mizuho will also form closer ties with various partner companies as the company seeks to accelerate the group-wide digital transformation process.
“In this way, Mizuho hopes to contribute to development in Japan, Asia, and the world” as the company strives to be the most trusted partner for its customers and to become a comprehensive financial services group with a global presence, Kihara added.
