Sony Bank opens for business

Sony Bank expects to attract 400,000 account holders in the next three years

By CNN's Kristie Lu Stout

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Sony Bank opens for business on Monday, ready to serve Japan's long neglected middle-income investors.

Though it's not quite the gee-whiz gadget you expect from the creator of the Walkman, PlayStation and Aibo robodog, Sony Bank is definitely breaking the rules -- in true Sony style.

It's the first online bank to be run by a company outside Japan's close-knit financial sector. Japan's banking giants have long kowtowed to corporate clients, but Sony Bank is wooing the little guy.

"Those people are not treated fairly in the history of the Japanese financial community," Sony Bank president Shigeru Ishii told CNN.

"So we think there should be a market in that area."

Emphasis on the interface

The bank is targeting middle-income investors with a piece of software called the MoneyKit.

"We try to provide the product through the Internet. So we think the interface is the most important part," said Ishii.

"So we developed a new software called the MoneyKit which provides 22 financial tools to the customers through very simple way of checking the services."

The MoneyKit looks like a Monopoly game board, but customers play with real money. Account holders can check balances, plan finances and invest in mutual funds savings through the Internet, and eventually mobile phones and handhelds. They will also have access to Sumitomo Mitsui Bank automatic teller machines.

In the next three years, Sony Bank expects to attract 400,000 account holders and $5 billion in assets.

But does the world's leading gizmo maker have what it takes to take on the banking giants?

"Sony is a very consumer savvy company and they've proved that by selling 70 million PlayStations. I wouldn't underestimate Sony's ability to be successful in this area," said Tim Clark, a Tokyo-based analyst at Ion Global.

"Although it is a tough sector to be in right now," he added.