SBI Shinsei offers crypto vouchers for deposit interest

SBI Shinsei Bank launched a three-month campaign on June 10 that offers customers a voucher equal to 20% of the interest paid on eligible yen deposits. The voucher can be redeemed for bitcoin, ether or XRP through the group’s exchange, SBI VC Trade. The campaign covers roughly 4.33 million ordinary and time deposit accounts and the bank plans a wider rollout in the fall.

Depositors retain their principal and receive interest in yen. Eligible products include ordinary accounts and time deposits with tenors from three months up to five years. Customers who choose the digital-asset reward must open an SBI VC Trade account to redeem the voucher.

The voucher amount is calculated on interest after Japan’s standard 20.315% withholding tax. At a 1.0% nominal rate, a one-year deposit of about $6,231 would generate roughly $50 in net interest after tax; a 20% voucher on that interest would be about $10, equivalent to approximately 16 basis points of the principal. A three-month deposit of about $1,850 at the same rate would yield a voucher of roughly $0.75.

SBI has used similar voucher mechanics in prior campaigns. In September 2025 the group issued XRP vouchers to eligible customers tied to opening specific deposit accounts and meeting balance thresholds. In February 2026 the bank ran a campaign offering up to $124 in XRP vouchers on six-month time deposits and issued a tokenized retail bond that included XRP vouchers. SBI Ripple Asia, a joint venture between SBI Holdings and Ripple, has integrated XRP into parts of the group’s rewards system.

The campaign runs as Japan’s interest-rate environment and household asset mix have changed. The Bank of Japan policy rate is currently 0.75%, and market expectations point to possible further increases to 1.0% by the end of June and to 1.25% by the fourth quarter. Japan’s loan-to-deposit ratio reached 65.7% by September 2025. By the end of 2025 there were about 28.26 million tax-advantaged NISA investment accounts, with cumulative purchases near $442 billion. Japan’s household financial assets stood at about $14.65 trillion at end-2025, with roughly $7.10 trillion held in cash and deposits.

The bank structures the voucher as an optional, non-cash reward that is redeemable only through its own exchange. The campaign keeps the deposit product and interest payments denominated in yen while offering a digital-asset voucher as an additional option for customers. The bank has indicated the program will be expanded in the fall.