Sanwa Bank will begin accepting mortgage applications through mobile phones on Wednesday in a service that will be the first of its kind for commercial banks in Japan.
Sanwa will cooperate with KDDI to allow cellphone users to access to its Web site and apply for housing loans any time of day, Sanwa officials said.
With the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Fuji Bank also considering similar services, competition among commercial banks to gain new customers through cellphones is likely to intensify.
Sanwa customers will have to go through a screening process before applying for a mortgage. By using cellphones, those who are cleared will be able to get loans with fixed interest rates 0.1 percentage point lower than in applications made at branches.
Sanwa Bank started a similar, personal computer-based service in June.