Credit Saison Co., Ltd. , commonly known as Credit Saison or simply Saison, is a Japanese financial services

Financial services

Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...

 company affiliated to Mizuho Financial Group

Mizuho Financial Group

, abbreviated as MHFG, or simply called Mizuho is a banking holding company headquartered in the Ōtemachi district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan...

. Founded in 1946, Credit Saison is the 3rd largest credit card

Credit card

A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...

 issuer with over 20 million cardholders in Japan, behind JCB

Japan Credit Bureau

Japan Credit Bureau is a credit card company based in Tokyo, Japan. Its English name is .Founded in 1961, JCB established dominance over the Japanese credit card market when it purchased Osaka Credit Bureau in 1968, and its cards are now issued in 20 different countries...

 and Visa Japan.

History

Credit Saison was founded in 1946 as Midoriya by Torajiro Okamoto. It was originally an operator of department store

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

s specialized in instalments selling.

Seibu Retailing Group, one of the subsidiaries of Seibu Railway

Seibu Railway

is a conglomerate based in Tokorozawa, Japan, with principal business areas in railways, tourism and real estate. Seibu Railway's operations are concentrated in northwest Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture; the name "Seibu" is an abbreviation of "west Musashi," referring to the historic name for this area...

, purchased Midoriya in 1976, attempting to add financial services to its portfolio of customer services. Midoriya's retailing division was transferred to Seibu Department Stores

Seibu Department Stores

is a Japanese department store. The first store to trade under the name opened its doors in 1949. Seibu is typical of Japanese department stores with a wide variety of stores doing business on several floors. The company is now a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd..-Japan:The Seibu...

, and Midoriya itself was renamed Seibu Credit retaining credit

Credit (finance)

Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...

 management division.

Seibu Railway spun off Seibu Retailing in 1983 and Seibu Retailing was rebranded as Saison Group. Seibu Credit issued the first Saison Card in 1983. Seibu Credit finally rebranded itself as Credit Saison in 1989, standing one of the Big Five core businesses of Saison Group.

Following the collapse of Japanese asset price bubble

Japanese asset price bubble

The was an economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1991, in which real estate and stock prices were greatly inflated. The bubble's collapse lasted for more than a decade with stock prices initially bottoming in 2003, although they would descend even further amidst the global crisis in 2008. The...

 in 1990s, Saison Group fell into financial difficulties. The group's longtime president Seiji Tsutsumi

Tsujii Takashi

is a Japanese author and poet, and the pen name of Tsutsumi Seiji , a major business leader.Tsujii is the son of Tsutsumi Yasujirō, founder of the Seibu Railway company and a long-serving member, and eventually speaker, of Japan's House of Representatives...

 expelled from the management in 1991. The group's creditors including Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank

Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank

The , abbreviated as , was one of the largest banks in the world during the latter half of the 20th century. It combined with Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan in 2000 to form Mizuho Financial Group....

 and Industrial Bank of Japan

Industrial Bank of Japan

The , based in Tokyo, Japan, was one of the largest banks in the world during the latter half of the 20th century.It combined with Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and Fuji Bank in 2002 to form Mizuho Financial Group.- History :...

 (now part of Mizuho Financial

Mizuho Financial Group

, abbreviated as MHFG, or simply called Mizuho is a banking holding company headquartered in the Ōtemachi district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan...

) pressed the group to restructure its business. Credit Saison was parted from other retailers of Saison Group, while formed an alliance with Mizuho in early 2000s.

Volume of new contracts

As of March 30, 2006:

• Credit card-related shopping services: ¥ 2,527,808 million JPY
• Agency services: ¥ 747,998 million JPY
• Cash advances: ¥ 618,921 million JPY
• Specialty loans: ¥ 120,117 million JPY
• Leases: ¥ 90,011 million JPY

External links

Saison Card Credit Saison Corporate Info