A community bank in Tokyo will offer incentives, including a 1-percent deposit interest rate, to promote non-nuclear energy.
A community bank in Tokyo will offer incentives, including a 1-percent deposit interest rate, to promote non-nuclear energy.
Johnan Shinkin Bank said April 28 it will offer 1-percent interest on a one-year deposit and an interest-free loan for the initial year from May 2.
People who purchase solar panels, generators, storage batteries or LED lighting worth 100,000 yen ($1,230) or more will be eligible.
"We want to play a role in creating a community that does not need to depend on dangerous nuclear power plants," said Tsuyoshi Yoshiwara, president of the bank.
Yoshiwara called for abandoning nuclear energy after the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and announced plans to cut the bank's electricity consumption by 30 percent within three years.
The premium 1-percent interest rate is before tax. The bank's conventional one-year deposit bears 0.08 percent.
Customers can deposit up to 1 million yen per household by presenting receipts for solar panels and other equipment.
They can take out 500,000 yen to 3 million yen in low-interest loans for purchasing the equipment, to be paid back in three to eight years.
No interest will be charged for the initial year, and the interest rate in subsequent years will be fixed at 1 percent a year.
Johnan Shinkin Bank, based in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward, is the nation's second-largest credit association, called a shinkin bank.