SBI Shinsei Bank, part of Japan's SBI Group, plans to launch a cryptocurrency rewards programme for deposit customers this autumn, The Block reported on June 9, citing Nikkei.

Under the report, deposit customers will receive vouchers equal to 20 percent of interest payments. The vouchers can be exchanged for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and XRP. To exchange them, customers must open an account with SBI Group crypto exchange SBI VC Trade.

The Block said the event is a strategy to funnel bank customers to the group's crypto exchange.

SBI Shinsei Bank will run a pilot programme for three months from June 10. It will cover ordinary deposits and time deposits with maturities of three months to five years. CoinPost, a Japanese crypto media outlet, said customers would receive vouchers worth about 500 yen for a 300,000 yen deposit and vouchers worth 20,000 yen for deposits of 30,000,000 yen or more.

SBI Group is rapidly expanding its cryptocurrency and blockchain business. Last month, SBI Chairman Yoshitaka Kitao (요시타카 기타오) said the company had entered preliminary talks to acquire a stake in Bitbank, a major Japanese crypto exchange. In May, there were also reports that SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities were developing in-house cryptocurrency investment trusts for individual investors. Earlier this year, it jointly developed an on-chain blockchain dedicated to stocks with Startale Group and unveiled a yen stablecoin, JPYSC, guaranteed by a trust bank.