Gov’t considering plan to automatically link bank accounts with My Number system

Japan’s Digital Agency is considering an update to the My Number system that would see details of bank accounts used by residents to receive state benefits automatically linked to their personal identification numbers and registered as accounts to receive public funds under the system.

Currently, holders of a My Number social security and tax identification card are encouraged to voluntarily register a bank account with their personal identification numbers in order to facilitate smoother receipt of state-issued financial aid and benefits, such as the one-off cash handouts issued during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Under the proposed update, residents enrolled in Japan’s child allowance, pension, and other welfare schemes, with bank account numbers already held by the relevant administrative agencies, would be notified in advance of their accounts being linked to the My Number system.

Unless the holder was to respond to the notification with a statement of rejection to the proposal within a certain time period, they would be deemed to have given consent and their account automatically linked to the system. 

Plans about the proposed update were detailed in documents published by the Digital Agency on Thursday reporting the content of a My Number system working-group meeting held in late November.

The agency plans to submit the proposals for consideration at the next ordinary session of the Diet. 

While voices of concern have been raised about automatically linking bank accounts to the My Number system, commentators have stressed that the update, if it goes ahead, will only apply to those people who are already receiving welfare payments and will not enable authorities to see the balance of the holder’s account. 

Concern was also raised within the My Number working-group meeting in November that the system of requiring holders to have to reject the linking of their account might be “fairly rough” as they may have different accounts registered with different administrative agencies.

The government is currently running its Mynapoint campaign to encourage residents to apply for a My Number Card and receive points to use for cashless shopping by doing so. The campaign also offers further points to card holders for linking their bank account to the My Number system.  

As of late November, around 26.91 million people had registered a bank account with the system, according to the digital agency. 

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