September 11, 2001
ISID, Hitachi and Softbank Tech Establish
Account Aggregation Enterprise
With license agreement concluded with Teknowledge, a major US aggregator
With license agreement concluded with Teknowledge, a major US aggregator
-providing smooth access to contents with
comprehensive management of
personal IDs and passwords-
personal IDs and passwords-
The new enterprise, Account One Corporation was established on August 1,2001, as a joint venture among Information Services International - Dentsu Ltd (commonly ISID, located in Nakano Ward, Tokyo, with paid-up capital of ¥8,180.50 million, managed by Mr. Jutaro Takinami), Hitachi Ltd(located in Chiyoda Ward, with paid-up capital of ¥281.754 billion, managed by Mr. Etsuhiko Shoyama) and Softbank Technology Holdings Corp(located in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, with paid-up capital of ¥108.75 million, managed by Mr. Norikazu Ishikawa). The three companies have already reached the agreement on commercialization of account aggregation (information integration) services.
The new company, Account One, entered the sales agent agreement on domestic sales of "Tekportal" in Japan, account aggregation software released by Teknowledge Corporation (hereafter "Teknowledge"), US system integrator.
With the joint venture, the three companies, ISID, Hitachi and Softbank Technology Holdings have established the foundation of account aggregation business in this country.
[What is an account aggregation service?]
"Account aggregation" is a new type of Web service, enabling individuals see various contents requiring each own IDs and/or passwords on the same screen. If an individual registers personal IDs and/or passwords such as those of Internet banking, credit cards, Email and airline mileage on this service, the person can identify latest status of each content at the same time by inputting an ID or password issued on the registration. Individuals are free from troublesome memorization and handling of each PIN (Personal Identification Number) for contents and access mistakes. Additionally the service facilitates increasing registrations for contents requiring personal verifications. In the future, the service can fulfil various needs such as provision of advice on financial assets management and settlements with fund transfer.
In the United States, about ten companies are providing the service today, and it has been recognized as "Net infrastructure." The service is now a strategic issue among US financial institutions. The US major institutions, such as Wells Fargo, Chase, Citibank, E*Trade, Yahoo! Finance, Bank of America and Charles Schwab are aggressively deploying the service.
Account One gives the first priority to protection of personal information due to the nature of this business, and makes the best efforts to protect privacy of individual users and prevent leakage of the information.
[Advantages of ISID, Hitachi and Softbank Tech]
The three companies have each own merit contributing the project in this account aggregation service;
Dentsu Group --- Sophisticate planning and development of services (contents)
Hitachi --- Secure and highly reliable system operation
Softbank Group --- Influential brand in e-business
To enter the new market of account aggregation business at earlier stage, it is more advantageous to integrate the merits of the three companies than to depend on capability of each own only.
*Softbank Technology Holdings Corp is a holding company supervises a technology division of the Softbank Group. In the project, Softbank Technology Holdings Corp is in charge of capital contribution, however, Softbank Technology Corp participates in the actual operation.
[Account One as the new enterprise]
<Profile of the company>
Name: Account Corp
Representative: Mr. Shinsuke Hisanaga, CEO
Head Office: Chuo Ward, Tokyo
Date of Incorporation: August 1, 2001
Capitalization: ¥480 million
Major shareholders: ISID 50%, Hitachi 40%, Softbank Technology Holdings
10%
Employees: 8
Business activity: Provision of account aggregation service with ASP methods
[Account One as the new enterprise]
The company provides consumers a new function of Internet through deployment of the account aggregation service. The service, as infrastructure on the Internet, facilitates development of business network contents with significant cost reduction (converting costly real media to reasonable virtual contents). The service contributes nation-wide progress of network society beyond categories of company, business alliance and industry.
[Proposal of new Internet Life]
When you make a purchase at a store, you may check your wallet. If
you do not have enough money, you can go to your bank or use your credit
card. In such a sense, when you make a purchase on the Internet, you can
recognize outstanding on your bank accounts or credit facilities on the
same list and determine a payment measure.
When EBPP settlement will become popular in the future, you can direct
the payment at your option based on your financial condition.
A user of the service can produce each own "personal general account
book" listing not only an outstanding of a saving account, but also
a wide range of financial status, such as equities, investment trusts, insurance.
Of course, the user can see the list whenever and wherever needed. Such
a list shall be helpful, when 401K schemes and network settlement are widely
available.
A user can directly consult with a financial adviser, if the user concludes
agreement with each content. Users can easily produce "my portal site"
by gathering necessary contents for daily life, such as airline mileage,
e-mail and my XX. The service, as established infrastructure shall be the
core of financial management and daily activities on the Internet.
[Ongoing schedule]
The company is scheduled to start service this October.
[Expectation of annual sales]
¥500million after three years
[Number of employees]
The company starts with 8 members
<Company profile of Teknowledge>
Name: Teknowledge Corporation
Representative: Neil Jacobstein, Chairman, President & CEO
Head Office: 1810 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA94303, USA
URL: www.teknowledge.com
Date of Incorporation: July, 1981
Capitalization: US$21.1 million
Employees: about 90
Sales: US$14,376K
Business activities:
Sales of software and provision of consulting services for financial institutions: Tekportal is its original software with account aggregation function. The company is engaged to advanced system development, such as R&D based on Internet security, E-Learning system, Electronic procurement system, Knowledge management system.
<Company profile of Hitachi >
Name: Hitachi, Ltd.
Representative: Mr. Etsuhiko Shoyama
Head Office: 4-6 Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, Japan
URL: www.hitachi.co.jp
Date of Incorporation: February 1, 1920
Capitalization: ¥281,754 million (as of March 2001)
Employees: 340,939 (as of March 2001, consolidated-basis)
Consolidated Sales: ¥8,416,982 million (Fiscal year ended March 2001)
Business Activities:
Manufacturing and sales of a wide range of products, such as computers, semiconductor devices, household electric appliances, electric power facilities, and industrial facilities
<*Company profile of Softbank Technology>
Name: Softbank Technology Corp.
Representative: Mr. Norikazu Ishikawa
Head Office: 24-1 Nihonbashi, Hakozakicho, Chuo Ward, Tokyo, Japan
Date of Incorporation: August 1, 1997
Capitalization: ¥608 million (as of March 2001)
Employees: 235 (as of March 2001, consolidated basis)
Consolidated Sales: ¥7,636 million (by-annual result)
Business Activities:
EC-related business solution and system solution as a core technological corporation of Softbank Technology Holdings
