CBA Broadens Its Digital Strategy

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) will be the first big four bank to allow customers to view account information from rival banks within its app – adding functionality to its digital offering.

“We aim to be the most trusted partner at the centre of our customers’ financial lives by saving them money, giving them more control over their finances, and by making banking simpler and easier,” said CBA CEO Matt Comyn.

The move increases the bank’s usage of the ‘consumer data right’.

Further, the bank aims to increase its use of data and disruptive tech-focused business to improve its digital offering to the customer.

“We are integrating new services into our platform to customise and personalise the digital experience in ways that will increase engagement and bring greater value to our customers,” added Mr Comyn.

The statement is made evident through CBA’s 25% shareholding in Amber, a new energy retailer providing direct access to wholesale energy prices for a monthly subscription of $15.

Consumer data right will soon be extended from banking to energy and Amber will provide CBA with relevant consumer behaviour when buying energy.

“Purchasing a home is a time when customers look for ways to save money, and electricity is a large expense in a household budget. Our partnership with Amber will help to differentiate our home buying proposition …”

Also announced today is a 23% shareholding in Little Birdie, an online shopping start-up designed to help customers find deals online.

“Deals and offers, integrated with CBA’s goal savings products, will help customers save for a special purchase in a completely different way.”

Move over, Marvel. The next blockbuster entertainment franchise might come from Japan.

Anime is shaping up as the country’s next big export industry, beyond cars and electronics. This once-niche entertainment form is entering the worldwide mainstream , and its growth could light up investors’ portfolios.

The global market for Japanese animation, known as anime, and its related products has more than doubled between 2012 and 2022 to 2.9 trillion yen, equivalent to $20 billion, according to the Association of Japanese Animations. The overseas market has been driving that growth. Markets outside of Japan made up around half of the total in 2022, compared with around 18% a decade earlier.

Streaming companies such as Netflix are certainly taking notice. Its live-action series “One Piece,” based on a Japanese comic, was its most-watched show in the second half of 2023. In fact, anime content on Netflix in the period logged 14% viewing growth from the first half of 2023, compared with a 4% drop overall, according to Jefferies. These streaming platforms will continue to introduce more anime-related content to their global audiences.

Japan’s anime and manga, the Japanese word for comics, have created many well-known characters and franchises over the years, such as Pokémon. And it looks to be getting even more mainstream. The anime market in North America has grown from $1.6 billion in 2018 to $4 billion this year, according to Jefferies. And Asia, which has long been more receptive to anime, will likely continue to grow strongly, especially in China. Anime has also been popular on Chinese streaming platforms such as Bilibili .

Apart from streaming, selling merchandise can be even more lucrative. Sanrio , which owns characters like Hello Kitty , has reported record profits, with its share price rising nearly sixfold over the past five years.

Sony would be another major beneficiary of this trend . The company owns animation streaming service Crunchyroll, which had 15 million subscribers as of June. That compared with around 3 million subscribers when Sony announced the acquisition of the streaming service from AT&T for nearly $1.2 billion in 2020. This contrasts with Sony’s approach in online streaming for other content: It acts more like an “arms dealer,” selling movies and shows to platforms such as Netflix and Amazon.com . That means the company could benefit more directly from the anime boom. And anime also has strong synergies with its movie and game businesses .

Anime maker Toei Animation, which owns popular franchises such as “One Piece” and “Dragon Ball,” is another listed company that would benefit. It makes anime itself, but more important for the overseas markets, it also earns licensing revenue from the copyrights to popular franchises that it owns. Sales outside of Japan accounted for more than half of its total revenue in the latest fiscal year ended in March. Season two for Netflix’s “One Piece” is already in production. Toei stock has nearly tripled since the end of 2019.

Anime has blockbuster potential, not just for audiences but for investors as well.

CBA Broadens Its Digital Strategy

The bank is hoping its fresh plan will bring them closer to the customer.

As Japanese animation and comics go global, opportunities abound for investors