Japan’s SBI Shinsei Bank Lets Customers Earn XRP as Deposit Interest

Japan’s SBI Shinsei Bank is taking a meaningful step toward weaving digital assets into everyday banking. Starting June 10, the bank will launch a pilot program allowing customers to receive part of their deposit interest in cryptocurrency. Eligible users can convert a portion of their interest payments into Bitcoin, Ethereum or XRP through exchange vouchers.

🚨JUST IN: ¥2.7T SBI Shinsei Bank to reward depositors with BTC, ETH and XRP based on their balance, Nikkei reports.

In addition to fiat interest, depositors will receive crypto rewards equivalent to 20% of their interest payments. pic.twitter.com/HpxU6tTD3F

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) June 9, 2026

This makes SBI Shinsei Bank one of the very few traditional banks anywhere in the world to embed crypto rewards directly into a deposit product. The move also reflects the SBI Group’s long-standing strategy of blending banking and digital assets under one financial roof.

SBI Shinsei Bank Introduces Crypto Interest Rewards

According to Japan’s Nikkei newspaper, customers will continue receiving their standard yen-denominated interest as usual. On top of that, they’ll receive exchange vouchers worth an additional 20% of their interest payments. It is redeemable for Bitcoin, Ethereum or XRP through SBI VC Trade, the crypto exchange run by SBI Holdings.

The pilot kicks off June 10 and is expected to transition into a permanent service by fall. With roughly 4.33 million deposit accounts potentially in scope. While millions of customers could gain their first real exposure to digital assets without ever having to buy crypto themselves.

XRP Continues to Play a Key Role in SBI’s Crypto Strategy

This latest move adds another chapter to the well-established relationship between SBI Holdings and XRP. Over the years, SBI has woven XRP into multiple products and campaigns, consistently backing Ripple‘s ecosystem. That cementing its reputation as one of the asset’s strongest institutional supporters in Asia.

For many observers, it’s yet another sign of XRP’s growing real-world utility. It’s a theme that dominates XRP latest news as institutional adoption continues to expand beyond pure trading activity. At the time of writing, XRP price current data showed the token trading near $1.16. It is up around 0.65% over the previous 24 hours.

SBI Targets Crypto Beginners

A key goal here is pulling in first-time crypto users. Rather than asking customers to buy digital assets outright, SBI Shinsei Bank is using a familiar, trusted banking product as a gentle on-ramp into the crypto world.

Customers who receive vouchers can choose to redeem them for XRP, Bitcoin or Ethereum. Though they’ll need to open an account with SBI VC Trade to do so. It’s a low-friction approach that keeps users comfortably within the SBI ecosystem while nudging them toward digital assets.

What This Means for Developers and Investors

For developers, the program is a practical example of how traditional financial institutions are finding real ways to integrate blockchain assets into everyday services. This moves crypto adoption well beyond exchanges and trading platforms.

For investors, it’s another encouraging data point for long-term digital asset adoption. Banking products tied to crypto expand awareness and draw in new participants. XRP supporters, in particular, may see this as further proof of the token’s deepening role in regulated financial products.

Japan Continues to Embrace Digital Assets

Japan has long held a reputation as one of the most crypto-forward major economies and Japan news today keeps reinforcing that image. Crypto news today out of the country suggests that if this pilot performs well. It could quietly inspire other banks to explore similar offerings. That makes SBI’s crypto reward program an early blueprint for how traditional banking and digital assets can genuinely work side by side.