Mizuho, a Japanese banking giant and provider of banking, securities, trust and asset management services, has erected an innovation lab in Tokyo, one of the region’s paramount financial hubs, helping build up and develop relationships with startups and other Fintech venues operating locally, according to a Mizuho statement.

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The move by Mizuho is hardly the first effort by a global lender to fortify its efforts in the Fintech space – to date, many other leading banks have opted to bolster their Fintech agenda, culminating in new innovation labs, centers, or partnerships with a range of companies.

Mizuho’s innovation lab will be based out of Tokyo in one of the hearts of the Fintech industry – operating out of such a diverse and mature ecosystem will help place the asset manager in a strategic location that best suits its agenda moving forward.

In particular, Mizuho’s lab will be based out of Tokyo’s Finolab, a Fintech center in the financial district backed by real estate giant Mitsubishi Estate and advertising firm Dentsu. Mizuho is aiming to use its lab in tandem with other local startups in a bid to help kindle innovation and ideas for new services that are relevant to its own operations and beyond.

As an introductory step, Mizuho has also extended a welcome towards other firms to carry out technical trials of new services based on the development environment of its soon-to-launch Open Bank API. The latest initiative follows on the heels of earlier efforts that has seen the group collaborating with several channels of the Fintech community, including partnerships with big data outfit Metaps and VC firm WiL.