TOKYO: Japan Post Bank said Thursday that the amount of deposits fraudulently withdrawn from customer accounts through partnered smartphone-based payment services as a result of recent hacks has reached 21.5 million yen in 136 cases.

The figures were up by 3.39 million yen and by 27 cases from those announced the previous day by the Japan Post Holdings Co. unit. Most of the total amount was stolen through the Docomo Koza payment service of major mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo Inc.

The bank corrected damage figures related to the PayPay service, offered by an affiliate of major mobile carrier SoftBank Corp. The bank said Thursday that 1.35 million yen was stolen in 13 cases, revised from the earlier announced 1.41 million yen in 17 cases.

The bank also said that 3.45 million yen was fraudulently withdrawn in 31 cases through “Shiharai Hisho,” a service provided by online payment service firm Wellnet Corp.

Aeon Bank, affiliated with retail giant Aeon Co., saw 100,000 yen in customer deposits stolen in two cases through the PayPay service.

Among regional banks, Aichi Bank, which operates mainly in the central Japan prefecture of Aichi, said Thursday that it has confirmed a theft of 1.2 million yen in deposits in three cases through the PayPay service.

Hyakujushi Bank, whose main business area is Kagawa Prefecture, western Japan, said that one Shiharai Hisho-linked case occurred in July last year, leading to 520,000 yen being stolen. The bank came to know the case through a report from the Wellnet side.

It is the first time that deposit thefts at regional banks through payment services other than Docomo Koza have come to light.

Aichi Bank plans to fully compensate affected customers through talks with the PayPay side. Hyakujushi Bank has yet to decide its response.

Aichi Bank suspended on Thursday customers’ money transfers to all partnered payment service systems, including PayPay, Line Pay of free messaging app provider Line Corp. and Merpay of online flea market operator Mercari Inc.. It will halt new bank account registrations for all of the services on Friday.

Hyakujushi Bank suspended both new account registrations and money charges for payment services including Bank Pay, which is joined by more than 100 financial institutions such as regional banks and shinkin banks.

JIJI Press