Activities in 2000

Banking Operations

During the term under review, the Bank conducted deposit, loan, domestic exchange, and foreign exchange operations within the Head Office and the 60 branches and 8 sub-branches that it retained from the previous year. We were proactive in providing a stable supply of needed funds to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses within the prefecture, and as the central financial institution in Okinawa Prefecture, we contributed to the development of the prefectural economy and the stability of its financial system.

Deposits

The Bank provides an array of deposit products for the convenience of its customers, such as ordinary deposits, current deposits, savings deposits, time deposits, money trusts, special deposits, and non-resident yen deposits, in an effort to cover the entire range of customer needs for banking products and services.

Lending

To continue to fulfill our duty of contributing to the development of the region’s businesses, the Bank of the Ryukyus endeavors to answer the wide-ranging funding needs of local corporations and individual business owners. To this end, the Bank extends loans on bills and notes, provides overdraft facilities, and discounts bank acceptances, commercial bills, and commercial bills of exchange. Furthermore, based on its motto of being a “Helper in Realizing Dreams,” the region’s citizens, the Bank stands ready with a variety of loan products for housing, education, and other purposes.

International operations

The Bank put more energy into improving its menu of new products and foreign exchange services that meet the diversifying needs of the times. New banking services include providing low interest rate fund investment products such as foreign currency-denominated time deposits and new type foreign currency-denominated deposit accounts, foreign currency remittances via Internet banking, and the acceptance of applications for foreign currency delivery services.

Securities

The Bank endeavored to respond to the varied needs of its customers through sales and other dealing operations involving public bonds, including over-the-counter sales of national government bonds.

Investment trusts

Against the background of the financial deregulation process, the Bank has introduced ultra low interest rates and defined contribution pension plans, and its investment trusts have gained an excellent reputation as the core products for long-term asset investments. To increase our customers’ assets, the Bank handles 18 funds carefully selected from among domestic investment trusts. We also started handling defined contribution pension funds in July 2000.

Trust operations

Since becoming a commercial bank in 1972, the Bank has engaged in money trust operations, unlike the majority of commercial banks. This involvement expanded substantially after 1993, when regional financial institutions were made eligible to engage in the trust business. As a result, the Bank started selling real estate trust, public welfare trust, specified donation trust, and pension trust services on an agency basis beginning in 1994. To make effective use of customers’ precious assets, the Bank adopted the expertise of investment trust banks to establish investment trust agency operations within seven of its branches.

Other services

The Bank is supporting its customers by improving the efficient usage of funds and simplifying banking procedures with the help of online connections between the Bank and customer computers, thus allowing the quick transmission of banking transaction data, including the transfer of remittance data and remittance executions, as well as collective remittances. To further enhance convenience for customers, the Bank has increased the number of its automated cash deposit machines and “super ATMS,” with deposit transfer services, and extended branch hours of operation on Saturdays and Sundays.

 With the growing sophistication of information and communications technologies, it is becoming possible for customers to do their banking while they are in their homes or places of work. We offer variegated services to suit the volume and methods of customer transactions, including telephone banking, Internet banking, mobile banking, corporate banking.

Other Operations

Other focal operations, carried out primarily by the Bank’s six subsidiaries and two affiliated companies, are related to the credit card business, leasing, real estate, credit guarantees, and information processing.

The Ryugin Group companies are putting their energies into expanding their business bases and strengthening their earning power through increased operational efficiency, so as to provide high-quality, comprehensive financial services.