Many banks are making their cash dispenser cards more versatile, enabling those traveling abroad to withdraw local currencies and adding credit-card functions. Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank is teaming up with university cooperatives to allow students to buy books and other items with the bank card. Other banks are issuing cards that can be used to make phone calls or to purchase the currencies and traveler's checks of eight foreign countries from vending machines.

Banks are extending their business hours, moreover, and offering 24-hour services via automated teller machines. Citibank of the United States was the first to introduce 24-hour banking in Japan, and domestic banks like Sumitomo are following suit.

Sakura Bank, meanwhile, is keeping its teller windows open at some branches until 7 p.m., instead of the normal 3 p.m. Other banks will also begin keeping its shutters open longer. Before the end of the year, branches are likely to be set up inside large supermarkets, a common sight in the United States.

Foreign Rivals
Many of the new services are those that have been offered for years by American banks. To help develop similar products in Japan, Tokai Bank has enlisted a number of Western investment bank employees to advise the bank on latest investment techniques. Japan's financial market is becoming a crowded field as foreign firms, lured by Big Bang reforms, continue to stream in; domestic institutions are now taking crash courses on the investment tools of their overseas rivals in order to stay competitive on home turf.

The appeal of foreign-affiliated banks is definitely growing, especially among younger people. Deposits at Citibank have grown phenomenally over the past three years and now exceed 900 billion yen (6.4 billion U.S. dollars at 140 yen to the dollar) despite exchange-rate risks from dollar-denominated savings and a fee requirement for some accounts. The secret to Citibank's success is its 24-hour ATM service and the convenience of being able to withdraw local currencies in foreign countries. The posh decor of its branches, with thick carpets and piped-in music, is reminiscent of high-priced hotels, and this is an additional source of its popularity. The image of Japanese banks, by contrast, has been sullied by a series of scandals and bankruptcies.

But domestic institutions are not simply sitting idly. They are matching the services that foreign rivals are bringing with them as well as coming up with new ones so as not to be blown away by Big Bang. Customers will thus have a greater range of services to choose from, but they will also be more responsible for choosing the kind of financial products that truly fit their needs.