KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 26): Rakuten Card Co Ltd, a unit of Rakuten Group Inc, has established Rakuten Fintech Vietnam Co Ltd, headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City.

In a statement Tuesday, Rakuten said the proprietary IT systems developed by Rakuten Card are the services the company provides to drive sustained growth and expansion of its service lineup.

It said Rakuten Card has established Rakuten Fintech Vietnam as an overseas development center, to strengthen the organisational structure, both accelerating system development and supporting business continuity planning.

Rakuten said Vietnam has implemented significant measures to support the development of human resources in the IT industry, heightening expectations over the long-term for securing and deploying top-tier IT talent within the country.

It said the new company plans to hire IT engineers locally and initially develop internal systems for Rakuten Card.

In the future, Rakuten Fintech Vietnam aims to become a core center for overseas system development in Rakuten Group’s FinTech business, including developing services for customers.

It added that the minimal time zone difference between Japan and Vietnam is ideal for rapid response to business operational needs in Japan.

It said Rakuten Card is widely used by many customers across Japan, and the number of cards issued has exceeded 23 million as of June 2021, with annual credit shopping transaction volume reaching 11.6 trillion yen in 2020.