With the Bank of Japan raising rates, deposit rates have started to rise. We looked for non-bank companies that earn interest on money they hold for customers. Katana used custom metrics to narrow ~3,800 companies to 54, and AI read each annual report and supported 8.
On September 18, 2026, the Bank of Japan decided to raise its policy rate to about 1.25%, three months after its June hike and the highest level since 1995. The same day, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank said they would raise their ordinary deposit rates from 0.4% to 0.5%, starting November 2.
Banks are not the only ones that gain when rates rise. Companies where customers' money builds up in their accounts for a while also earn the interest. Netstars, which bundles QR code and other payments for merchants, holds payment funds before passing them on to merchants. Its annual report shows interest income of ¥142.3 million in fiscal 2025, equal to 35% of its pre-tax profit, and non-operating income 1.9 times the year before.
Which non-bank companies hold customers' money in a way that makes higher rates lift their profit? We searched all of Japan with Katana.
“Outside banks and other financial companies, companies that hold customers' money as part of their business, such as payment funds awaiting transfer to merchants, collection funds, prepaid balances, or travel payments received in advance, so that higher Japanese interest rates raise their profit.”
We split this profile into two custom metrics built with Katana's formulas and one question entered in English, then had the AI read each annual report.
Katana computes its metrics for every company.
AI reads each annual report and judges support and counterevidence.
The question was entered in English.
read the filings and supported 8.
Of 54 companies, 8 were supported, 34 need review and 12 had counterevidence. Below are the 10: one each from payments, collection services, hotel booking, travel, online stores and online courses first, then the rest.
At that point it owes the merchant a payment, which it records as deposits received.Filing ↗
Its collection service holds payments collected for businesses in a segregated account in its own name, then remits them on a set date.Filing ↗
Mainly because deposits of room charges received through tripla Book rose by ¥8.26 billion.Filing ↗
Because advance payments are in effect money held for customers, its policy is to keep the equivalent funds in cash and cash equivalents.Filing ↗
BASE Easy Payment is an escrow payment, with the company in the middle so that shops and their buyers can trade safely.Filing ↗
Course fees it receives are first recorded as advance payments, then recognized as sales over the course period.Filing ↗
Its Anshin payment system holds the payment for each Creema purchase and pays the creator after the item arrives.Filing ↗
Through escrow, it temporarily receives fees from clients on behalf of the freelancers who are owed them.Filing ↗
On its skills marketplace, it holds buyers' payments within the group until the transaction is complete (escrow).Filing ↗
Deposits received, made up of ticket and content sales proceeds and membership fees, rose by ¥67.5 million.Filing ↗
Note: we dropped freee, which was supported, because we found no sentence in its annual report describing how it holds customers' money. We added BASE, Lancers and coconala, which needed review, because their reports describe escrow, holding payments until a transaction is complete.
View detailed resultsThese results are from October 16, 2026. Qualitative judgments use the filings available at that time, while quantitative screening uses the latest financial data.
Here are the 10 companies with interest income as a share of cash (yield). Interest income is for the latest fiscal year and cash is the year-end balance, so this is a rough gauge. Sensitivity is how much pre-tax profit rises if rates go up 0.25%.
| Company | Cash | Yield | Sensitivity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netstars | ¥36.2bn | 0.39% | 22.5% |
| Creema | ¥3.0bn | 0.19% | 11.4% |
| tripla | ¥18.0bn | 0.17% | 8.4% |
| coconala | ¥2.9bn | 0.17% | 3.2% |
| BASE | ¥26.9bn | 0.15% | 4.1% |
| Moi | ¥3.0bn | 0.15% | 7.1% |
| Eurasia Travel | ¥2.0bn | 0.13% | 4.0% |
| KIYO Learning | ¥4.1bn | 0.12% | 3.4% |
| Lancers | ¥2.1bn | 0.12% | 5.7% |
| Billing System | ¥27.8bn | 0.06% | 11.6% |
Most earn around 0.1% to 0.2%, in line with ordinary deposit rates. Only Netstars stands out at 0.39%, with interest income equal to 35% of pre-tax profit. The money it holds is already a major source of profit.
Billing System, by contrast, holds ¥27.8 billion in cash yet yields just 0.06%. Its annual report says the payments it collects are kept segregated in a settlement-type deposit account to protect the businesses' money. Settlement deposits are fully protected but pay no interest. However much a company holds, money kept in a non-interest account gains nothing when rates rise.
GMO Payment Gateway, a major payment processor, holds about ¥220 billion in cash, but with pre-tax profit of ¥31.9 billion its sensitivity is 1.7%, below our threshold. Rising rates move profit the most at companies whose profit is still small relative to the money they hold.
Sensitivity assumes deposit rates rise as much as the policy rate. In practice, deposit rates follow the policy rate with a lag. The September hike raised the policy rate by 0.25%, while the three megabanks raised ordinary deposit rates by 0.1%, and only from November. Interest income is from the latest fiscal year and does not yet include the September hike. Deposit rates have room to catch up, and some companies now keeping money in non-interest accounts may move it to earn more.
Complex theses, your own selection rules. Katana narrows companies with its own metrics, and AI reads annual reports to judge qualitative conditions. The selection you used to do one company at a time, AI now runs across the Japanese market.
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