TOKYO: Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Japanese messaging app provider Line Corp. said Thursday that they have abandoned their joint project to launch a new online bank due to delays in system development.

The Japanese banking group and the Z Holdings Corp. unit planned to offer next-generation banking services via the new bank, Line Bank, that allow users to complete all procedures on smartphones.

The two companies announced the project in 2018 and planned to open the new bank in fiscal 2020.

But they had postponed the scheduled opening to fiscal 2022 due to delays in the development of systems to prevent money laundering and improve user-friendliness.

A change in the environment surrounding the banking industry, including the spread of digital financial services, also prompted Mizuho and Line to scrap the project.

JIJI Press