These licenses are in addition to the business registering as a securities intermediary in October 2022.

SJML Japan and Habitto are owned and operated by Singapore based SJ Mobile Labs Pte. Ltd. co-founded by Samantha Ghiotti and Liam McCance. With this registration, Habitto becomes the first company to register for deposit taking, electronic financial services and securities intermediation under the Japanese Financial Services Agency’s (JFSA) relatively new ‘New Financial Services Intermediary’ regime. Habitto is also the first foreign-owned company to register.

Samantha Ghiotti Habitto’s CEO “This license was purpose-built for a business like ours that seeks to offer great customer experience on top of existing banking and securities infrastructure. Through these financial services intermediary licenses we intend to offer access to financial advice and products to a younger generation who have been largely left out by these services. The JFSA and the Kanto Local Finance Bureau office have been extremely supportive during our license application process as they seek to further innovation that impacts customers’ outcomes.”

“With the financial intermediary registering complete, we are excited to open our services to the public in June 2023 after the completion of our soft launch scheduled for next month. We’ve seen a real desire from the market to improve financial literacy, independence and to access financial advice. During beta testing, we identified that over 70% of respondents not only wanted access to financial advice but were also willing to take up a monthly paid subscription. ” Liam McCance Chief Creative Officer Habitto.

What is Habitto?

Habitto is a digital bank that provides free financial advice via mobile application. The Habitto app offers a combination of financial services including a market-leading yield savings account, debit card, and investment products which are complimented with truly customer-focused advice.