Develop a virtuous cycle for a sustainable economy Create common value through business

Theme

Collaboration and collaboration with the community

Policy

The Ricoh Leasing Group provides some 6,000 vendors with sales support to aid its 400,000 customers with their business activities. In order for the Group to sustain profitable growth, we will provide new value beyond our traditional leasing business by accurately responding to changes in society, markets, and customers. We aim to resolve social issues in each region and create a virtuous cycle for the local economy by providing fine-tuned services to customers and vendors based on our strong network of bases nationwide, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, and the economic circumstances of each region.

Non-financial Targets

General Manager of Business
Strategy Management Division
Techno Rent Co., Ltd.
Munenori Ozaki

Techno Rent, a Group company that handles the rental business in the Ricoh Leasing Group, offers a wide range of equipment rentals, including personal computers and measuring instruments. With respect to PCs in particular, the end of support for Windows 10, which was introduced around 2019-20, is scheduled for October 2025, making this a time when many customers will be considering replacement.
Companies face the issue that replacing and managing PCs places a heavy burden on IT departments in terms of model selection, kitting (initial setup), and handling malfunctions during operation. Techno Rent can not only select models specified by customers, but can also take advantage of economies of scale in setting rental prices by purchasing large quantities from manufacturers and vendors. In addition, by providing a one-stop shop for services such as high-quality kitting and the provision of replacement equipment during the rental period, we reduce the burden on IT departments in terms of PC replacement and management.
It is important for us to work with our partners to ensure that we are able to meet the demand for PC replacement. We at Techno Rent, together with our partners, provide a rental service that manages the life cycle of PCs from procurement to disposal. In order to increase opportunities for business negotiations, we also actively promote the benefits of our services to customers who have not yet used our rental services. In addition, by collaborating with various partners, such as offering rental services in combination with telecommunication services and telecommunication-related equipment, we are expanding our lineup of PC-related services and developing rental offerings to meet the diverse needs of our customers.
By continuing these activities, we will not only meet the demand for replacements, but also contribute to the growth of our customers' businesses by reducing the burden of IT equipment management and supporting the introduction of new equipment.

In 2020, Ricoh Leasing established a fund of 20 billion yen to launch new businesses by investing in companies and businesses, especially ESG-friendly startups. We have invested in or funded multiple companies, with cumulative investments totaling 17.8 billion yen at the close of FY2023.
We are striving to use these investments to achieve organic synergies between portfolio companies and their businesses on the one hand with Group businesses, and help realize a sustainable circulation-oriented society by creating new value.

FY2023 Topics
Investment in A.I.Viewlife Co., Ltd.

As part of our efforts to achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), we are running an "SDGs Participatory Leasing Tie-up." When customers who agree to participate lease equipment from Ricoh Japan, a portion of the contract amount is donated to Ricoh Japan's social contribution partner, the certified non-profit organization "Sodateage-Net." In FY2023, 13 customers had agreed to donate 292,248 yen, based on a total contract amount of approximately 300 million yen by March 2024.

Donation ceremony, from left:
Satoshi Abe, Head of the Ricoh Japan ESG Center
Kei Kudo, Director, Sodateage-Net
Daisuke Hashimoto, Senior Manager, Sales Planning
Department, Ricoh Leasing

Comment from Satoshi Abe,
Head of the Ricoh Japan ESG Center

Sodateage-Net, Ricoh, and Ricoh Japan have joined forces to implement the "Digital Support Program for Young People," which aims to help young people who have difficulty finding work in the digital society to participate in the workforce.
Many customers have an extensive understanding of social contribution activities and the SDGs, but do not know where to start. Ricoh Japan supports this Leasing Tie-up because customers who sign lease contracts can contribute to achieving the SDGs through the activities of Sodateage-Net, which supports youth employment. This initiative is also linked to our goal of "aligning our business with the SDGs/ESG." Our sales staff have also heard that customers are very receptive to the idea of supporting the SDGs and social contribution through lease contracts. Going forward, we hope to continue supporting the activities of Sodateage-Net by raising awareness of this Leasing Tie-up within our company and by further collaborating with Ricoh Leasing.

In April 2023, we launched Mamotte, a receivables guarantee business that provides guarantees against the risk of non-recovery of various receivables (e.g., accounts receivable) that may arise in transactions between corporations. Since our founding, we have assumed the risk of non-recovery for sellers (vendors) in leases and other transactions with 400,000 customers. Our screening capabilities, which continue to improve in accuracy based on transaction data obtained from our business dealings, have enabled us to set appropriate guarantee limits and guarantee fee rates for receivables guarantees. The services provided through this business will enable customers to reduce the workload involved in their credit management operations as well as the risk of non-recovery of receivables.
In FY2023, the first year of the business, we have been promoting face-to-face "tailor-made plans" to customers, in which the recipient of the guarantee is envisioned as a medium-sized business. As a result, the balance of guarantees exceeded 1 billion yen in just a year. Since July 2024, we have also been offering a "package plan," a subscription-based service that customers can sign up for via our website.
In the future, in addition to having leasing sales representatives make proposals to customers, we will also solicit business through our website, and include customer referrals from financial institutions and other sources as additional channels. Through initiatives like this, we aim to further increase the balance of guarantees as a business in the BPO field, an area that our Group is focusing on.
We take pride in the fact that, in making proposals to customers and having them choose our services, we are able to differentiate ourselves from other companies in terms of the volume of transaction data we hold and the conditions we can set using this data. By further expanding this business and alleviating our customers’ concerns about non-recovery of receivables or business partners going bankrupt, we will contribute to the revitalization of the economy and the realization of a sustainable society.

Our high-quality, high-efficiency operations framework enables us to handle transactions and contracts with 6,000 vendors and 400,000 customers. By optimizing our organizational structure, harnessing the power of digitalization, and engaging in ongoing improvement of our operations, we have brought our operational processes to the next level.
Going forward, we will continue to standardize our business processes and promote further digitalization in order to improve productivity.