MUFG Bank has launched "Sozoku Guide," a web service to support inheritance procedures, starting in July 2023. This service is free of charge for everyone and does not require personal information. To find out about the thoughts and background that led to the release, we interviewed Vice President Rina Kumamoto, who was involved in the project from the planning stage, and Director Asako Kobayashi, who oversees the project as a whole, from the New Business Development Group, Digital Transformation Office, Digital Service Planning Division.

Inheritance procedures are generally considered complex and difficult to understand. You must procure documents from multiple institutions, often riddled with unfamiliar terms requiring specialized knowledge. Some procedures must be completed within a certain period, resulting in missed filings and deadlines. Faced with an enormous number of tasks, many people feel at a loss as to where to start before they even have time to mourn the deceased.

Feature 1 Create a customized "to-do list," an inheritance procedures roadmap just for you, to manage online what to do and where to start.

Feature 2 No personal information is required, and the service is available to anyone, free of charge.

Feature 3 You can find an inheritance specialist (lawyer, tax accountant, judicial scrivener) who meets your needs.

The "Sozoku Guide" allows users to answer a few questions and create a customized "to-do list" of inheritance procedures to manage progress online. No personal information is required, and anyone can use the service free of charge, even if they have no business relationship with MUFG Bank.

"We want as many people as possible to utilize the service, so we have made it accessible without the need to login. After providing minimal information, such as their situation and intentions, the customer can view a 'to-do list' with explanations on each step," Kumamoto said.

MUFG Bank handles more than 110,000 inheritance procedures annually, about 10% of deaths recorded in Japan. MUFG (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group) has long provided services such as asset management and estate liquidation using inheritance procedures as a touch point. "Sozoku Guide" is a new concept not confined to the traditional financial services framework.

"Many customers have told us that inheritance procedures are difficult and hard to carry out," Kumamoto said. "We recognized that there was room for improvement in customer satisfaction. By offering the information customers need beyond the conventional services offered by financial institutions, we hope to attract customers to MUFG Bank for financial advice. We wanted a service that works as a bridge between customers and us, so we created the web service, Sozoku Guide."

If it is difficult to go through the procedures by yourself, users can tap the "Expert Search" function of "Sozoku Guide" to find lawyers, tax accountants, judicial scriveners, and other experts experienced in the inheritance field. Lawyers, tax accountants, and judicial scriveners are listed as advertisements in the "Sozoku Guide." The revised Banking Act, effective in November 2021, added advertising services as an incidental business to the banking business, making it possible for banks to post advertisements on their websites.

"This is a new attempt by MUFG Bank. In the three months since the service was launched, we have seen a gradual increase in the number of users, both individuals and professional advertisers," Kobayashi said.

The "Sozoku Guide" adopted a new development and operation method: The project was planned, developed, and released in a short period of time. After full-scale development began, it only took about ten months to release the service. The entire process, from customer experience design to development, was carried out nonstop in collaboration with MUFG's digital strategy subsidiary, Japan Digital Design Inc.

"We decided on the core values we would provide, and then we had Japan Digital Design handle the entire process from customer experience design to UI study and development nonstop," said Kumamoto. "After releasing the service with minimum functions based on the MVP (minimum viable product) method, we plan to gradually expand it by listening to customer feedback and agilely improving each function."

Since the service's launch, customers have requested information not only on inheritance procedures after death but also how to prepare for them while still alive. Starting on March 5, 2024, the "to-do list in life" function is scheduled to be added to support customers preparing for inheritance procedures while still alive.

"We want to develop services that will be a guidepost and partner for our customers considering inheritance and end-of-life planning. The goal is to create an easy-to-use service on which they would say, 'The Sozoku Guide is the best tool when it comes to inheritance and end-of-life planning’," said Kobayashi.

"We see inheritance as a service in high demand due to the aging of society and because so many people encounter various issues with inheritance," said Kumamoto. "Providing services in this field via the easily accessible Internet will expand our business horizons. We hope to create MUFG fans by continuing to meet the needs of our customers and developing this service."

MUFG Bank will continue to develop new services that go beyond the conventional framework and improve their functions by linking them with various MUFG services to address social issues while improving serviceability for its customers.