Resona Holdings Inc. may sell the majority of its banking group's stake in Japan's leading credit card company, with mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. among the prospective buyers, sources said Wednesday.
The plan is to reduce the group's 15 percent stake in JCB Co. to 5 percent by the end of March, the sources said.
Because the Resona group also holds a stake in credit card firm Credit Saison Co., the JCB reduction is aimed at helping it allocate management resources more efficiently, the sources said.
DoCoMo is creating a new service that will let consumers make purchases through mobile phones instead of credit cards.
But creating multifaceted partnerships with credit card companies is also part of its strategy, according to the sources.
The mobile phone company has already invested in Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., the nation's second-largest credit card company after JCB.
Resona is the second-largest shareholder in unlisted JCB after the UFJ financial group.