Japan's banks prepare to meet the digital challenge

TOKYO -- The boss of Japan's biggest bank could not have been clearer when he was asked last month about what was changing in his industry.

"COVID has brought the future forward by accelerating the digital shift by five years. It is not going to slow down. It will accelerate further," warned Hironori Kamezawa, president of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, at a Nikkei forum in October.