As Japan nears an end to eight years of negative interest rates, a regional lender in Kyoto is offering e-learning to train up staff who have no experience lending money or collecting deposits in a positive interest rate environment. ― AFP picTOKYO, March 18 — As Japan nears an end to eight years of negative interest rates, a regional lender in Kyoto is offering e-learning to train up staff who have no experience lending money or collecting deposits in a positive interest rate environment.
The e-training, which is offered in sessions of about 30 minutes viewable on smartphones, also aims to get younger staff geared up for intensifying competition to attract deposits, which until now had been a liability as lenders sat on a huge pile of money.Other sessions offer more practical guidance on how to explain to borrowers that lending rates will rise and to increase deposits through better communication with customers.
In the meantime, ordinary depositors have received only a tiny amount of interest on savings and mortgage rates have been very low.