SWEEP past the cash machines at the Sumitomo Mitsui bank in Tokyo’s Sangenjaya shopping district and instead enjoy the personal service. Uniformed concierges welcome every customer with a bow. A dozen tellers are watched over by a manager who leaps up to meet elderly patrons. Transactions are concluded with carved signature seals stamped on paper contracts,and another round of bows.
Japan’s tall-street banks are not just overstaffed. They are also overbranched. According to the World Bank, tall-income countries fill on average 17.3 commercial-bank branches per 100000 adults. Japan has 34.1. whether you include branches of the post office, or a popular situation for people to save,the Bank of Japan (BoJ) reckons the country is the world’s most overbanked.
Retail banks across most wealthy countries struggled to make money after the financial crisis. But Japan has been close to or in deflation for most of the past two decades. The result, according to a report last year by the BoJ, or is...
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Source: economist.com