Management Vision

Message from the CEO

Expanding the economic zone of a comprehensive life services groupwhile balancing “creative destruction” and “individual freedom”
Always paying close attention to international political trends, I think about the global position of Japanese companies.
Geopolitical risks are rising more than ever, with the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the situation in the Middle East becoming
increasingly tense. In addition to the ongoing friction between the United States and China, the world is heading in the
direction of multipolarization, as exemplified by the European Union and Russia as well as the Global South movement,
which includes India.
Under these circumstances, Japan’s presence is greatly diminished compared to its standing in the second half of the20th century, when the country was recognized as the world’s second-ranked economic power. It is my belief, however, thatJapanese companies have a chance to raise their profiles even against the backdrop of this multipolarizing world if they areable to create 21st century global business models that differ from those of the 20th century.

Global strategy that calls for a multifaceted response
In the 20th century, “control” was the mainstream global strategy of Japanese companies, which involved holding most of
the capital of local companies and dispatching presidents from Japan. In the 21st century, this approach no longer works.
The important thing is to contribute to the economic development of the countries and regions into which companies have
expanded, in a form that meets the wishes of those countries and regions. Also demanded in an era of multipolarization are
multifaceted responses tailored to the local area. Investment ratios are not a major factor.
As reflected in the Company’s FY2022 financial results, Credit Saison’s global business is currently experiencing rapid
growth, primarily in India. A major characteristic is that we develop original businesses from the perspectives of the local
people, using those countries and regions that are continuing to grow economically as our starting point. At Kisetsu Saison
Finance (India) Pvt. Ltd., an Indian subsidiary for which the main business is lending to the underserved population who
cannot receive sufficient financial services from banks and other financial institutions, we steadily expanded our businessthrough a collaborative model (BtoB) with local Fintech businesses and eventually launched a BtoC model geared toward
individuals. This Indian model will also be deployed in other countries, such as Brazil and Mexico.

Building a loosely connected economic zone in Japan, aiming eventually for a global ripple effect

Hiroshi Rinno
Representative,
Chairman and CEO

Toward the achievement of our “transformation into a comprehensive life services group” goal, we are currently building aloosely connected economic zone of equal partners called the Saison Partner Economic Zone. To compete against othercompanies, which are enclosing themselves within their own economic zones, it is important to adopt a loose approach that6

Message from the CEO

excludes regulations, such as the number of companies within a single industry that can be partnered with or whether there are
any capital ties. Equally important is how well customer needs can be met.
As a comprehensive life services group that solves customers’ problems, Saison’s Lifestyle Research website that welaunched in September 2021 continues to grow steadily, as evidenced, for example, by recently recording 4.7 million pageviews per month. As far as the speed of monetization through the building of an economic zone is concerned, althoughdifferences can be seen in the expectations of each of the relevant parties, I believe it is important to have the patience toproceed calmly and gradually.
In the real estate industry, Credit Saison already enjoys relationships and collaborations with such companies as Mitsui
Fudosan Co., Ltd., Tokyu Land Corporation, and Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd. Up to now, we have also formed alliances inareas such as the credit guarantee business with nearly 400 financial institutions, including regional banks, credit unions, andcredit associations. Going forward, we will also face the challenges of creating new business models that combine the strengths
of both banks and non-banks while taking on the challenges of diversifying our business. Working to enhance our partnershipnetwork with a wide variety of companies, we have entered into a capital and business alliance with Suruga Bank, which has
strengths in the retail business.
The only thing that yields profit for companies is their customers. It is therefore important to have partnerships launched on
the basis of customer needs, and thus I think it is better to build a system that creates synergies while building “give and take”–
based relationships. This loosely connected economic zone naturally has its sights set on global expansion.

“Creative destruction” and “freedom”
I often point out four important management resources for companies: human resources, brands, innovation, and time.
Discovering and securing the human resources that will support growth is never easy. For the human resources at the level ofrunning businesses, they will need to be drilled through hard training. Also, as human resources are demonstrating increased job
mobility, to retain these talented human resources Credit Saison must itself continue to be an attractive and interesting company.
We human beings have an instinctual desire for knowledge, we want to know things we don’t know. Just as there is a lot of learningthat can be gained through play, playing, learning, and working are essentially equivalent when it comes to stimulating that instinct.
A free and rewarding work culture, and an environment in which diverse values are embraced, make it possible for individuals withdifferent values to proactively pursue work by saying, “I want to try that job.” This encourages the active engagement of talent.
To expand and upgrade the Saison Partner Economic Zone, branding is critical to creating a favorable impression, andthe organization must be innovative to create new business models. Innovative organizations have the deep-rooted habit ofcreatively destroying, for example, products, services, and work styles, and this creative destruction arises from interactions
with diverse people.
In organizations as well, so that being free leads to a rich life with no regrets, I would like each and every human resource
to think for themselves about what to do with the time they are given and act on their own, based on their own free will. In theyears to come, Credit Saison wants to remain the kind of company that mutually recognizes each individual’s diverse values andsupports each individual’s desire for growth. I am convinced that my current job is to offer my support in this respect.
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Management VisionInterview with the COO

Scaling up business inside and outside Japan through a process of“Innovative,” “Digital,” and “Global” evolution
As we expand our business both inside and outside Japan, the future remains shrouded in uncertainty. This is due to avariety of factors, including current international conditions, which are characterized by heightened geopolitical risks,
uncertainty surrounding the Chinese economy, and foreign exchange trends such as the prolonged depreciation of the yen.
Even within Japan, there exist countless signs of change, including future interest rate policies, price trends, and even a shift
from savings to investment. While these trends can have both positive and negative effects, as Credit Saison, we view eachsign as an opportunity.

Q

Credit Saison has announced robust results for FY2022. What do you believe are the factors behind
this performance?

In the Company’s financial results for FY2022 we recorded our highest ever consolidated final profit of ¥43.5 billion. As aresult, we now expect to achieve the business profit target of ¥70 billion set under the Medium-term Management Plan in
FY2023, one year ahead of our plan. The factors contributing to this result were the recovery of the Payment Business andthe steady growth of the Finance Business against the backdrop of steady real estate market conditions. At the same time,
our global business has grown significantly, with growth exceeding our initial expectations and making a major contribution.
In addition, valuation gains from the fair value of funds held exerted a positive impact on financial results.
Group companies are also making progress in reforming their business models, including Saison Fundex and Saison
Realty (formerly Atrium Group), which have reformed their management systems. Our human resources are key to achieving
the overarching goal of “transforming ourselves into a comprehensive life services group.” Having secured and developed
professional human resources for a variety of fields, I believe that our lineup is now fairly well rounded.

Q

Katsumi Mizuno
Representative,
Executive President
and COO

Can you give us some background on the rapid expansion of your global business, especially in India?

We commenced operations in India in 2019 after establishing a company in 2018. Shortly thereafter, we faced an extended
period during which we were unable to provide financing due to the COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in 2020. During thistime, the Company focused on strengthening its systems. Naturally, the high growth potential of India itself, with its GDP growthrate in the 7% range and an average age of around 28 years, is also a factor in business expansion. I feel that vitality firsthandevery time I go there. On one hand, having worked to strengthen our human resources in areas such as governance, financial
accounting, and risk management, which form our business foundation, we were able to lay the groundwork for accelerating
the growth of our Indian business once the COVID-19 pandemic came to an end. On the other hand, risk management uniqueto emerging countries is also important. Credit Saison’s human resources in India stood at approximately 700 as of the end of8

Interview with the COO

September 2023, and operations are overseen by people who are familiar with local business practices and have experience in providing
loans at other non-banks and financial institutions. Our great strength lies in our talented local human resources, who have a keen sense of
the local risks and are able to make management decisions and put strategies into effect on the spot.

Q

The consolidated final profit target is expected to be achieved, and your new Medium-term Management Plan isscheduled to be announced in May 2024.
Please tell us about your key initiatives, pending issues from the current Medium-term Management Plan that need
to be addressed, and your thoughts on the future business portfolio.

To assist in formulating the new Medium-term Management Plan, I personally visited workplaces and on around 50 occasions had theopportunity to speak directly with many employees.
Since the completion of associated core systems in 2018, the Payment Business has steadily resolved one issue at a time, and wewill further promote the fusion of the Payment Business and the Finance Business, which is currently under way, and the expansion andupgrade of our corporate sales structure. As a result of having allocated a large number of human resources to corporate sales, suchas multitasking, which handles finance products in addition to credit cards, the transaction volume of corporate cards has grown toabout 20% of the total business. While continuing to promote structural reforms in the Payment Business, including measures to reskill
human resources and improve productivity per person, we will enhance our efforts to, for example, acquire new small and medium-sizedenterprise (SME) customers.
In the Finance Business, after having announced our capital and business alliance with Suruga Bank in May 2023, we begancollaboration in the mortgage guarantee business in October. Further promoting collaboration with Suruga Bank, we will work on businessexpansion with a sense of urgency, focusing, for example, on the development of products for wealthy individuals and SMEs.
In the Global Business, we will obtain local credit ratings in India while leveraging the creditworthiness of Credit Saison in Japan, which
has a solid financial base. Through this process, we are developing a strategic capital policy to raise funds from local financial institutions.
In addition, we began full-scale operations in Mexico and Brazil from October 2023. By horizontally deploying the Indian business modeland know-how, we can expect an early start-up in both countries. In both markets, where there are almost no non-banks, the sense of
security that stems from being a Japanese brand will be an effective tool, so I would like to establish a unique position.
Last year, I presented a graphic of our medium- to long-term business portfolio with a 3:3:3:1 ratio structure for the Payment, Finance,
global and new businesses, respectively. From the size of the market and its speed of growth, I feel that the Global Business has thepotential to expand by up to 50% over the long term, such as 10 years from now. There is also the potential for a 3:3:3:3 ratio structure due
to growth in new businesses, including those of affiliated companies. As far as business profit is concerned, I would like to grow the Groupto the ¥100 billion scale as soon as possible.

Q

In terms of the basic “Innovative,” “Digital,” and “Global” concepts, are there any changes in the direction of theCompany toward the realization of “transforming into a comprehensive life services group”?

We recognize that our “transformation into a comprehensive life services group” and the three concepts are only at the halfway stage, andthus there are no plans to change. We believe the key to evolving into a Version 2.0 lies in the “Digital” concept. In addition to reaching
the stage of being able to allocate human resources more to the strengthening of sales capabilities by labor-saving operations through9Interview with the COO

digitalization, shifting to in-house systems development will also lead to reduced depreciation costs in the years to come. While working
toward our human resources target of creating 1,000 people with digital technology backgrounds, which was identified under our CSDXStrategy announced in November 2022, management, and myself included, will take the lead in raising digital literacy while working toboost morale throughout the organization.
With regard to the “Innovative” concept, in addition to actively promoting partnerships and M&A with an eye on fields other thanfinance, we will continue to foster a culture that facilitates the occurrence of innovation, such as creating opportunities to propose new
business development within the Company.
The “Global” concept is developed in both the lending and investment businesses. The investment business not only aims forcapital gains but also serves a radar function in discovering the new seeds of innovation. While selecting areas for expansion based on
viewpoints that include demographic trends, local digitalization status, and deregulation, we will keep an eye on cost balance as we work
to expand our business. As we look beyond Central and South America to, for example, Africa in the years to come, the optimization of
our overall management system will become an issue for consideration. Also, the funds from our lending business are directed toward
individual as well as micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that lend to the underserved strata of society and those below that.
Operating at the forefront of financial inclusion, our lending business is one that is making a major contribution to the attainment of the
SDGs. In addition to being able to better monitor a company’s structure and decision-making processes as well as perform effective risk
management, by carrying out both investment and financing I feel that there is greater significance in developing the business along twoaxes, as this will also serve to boost the speed of growth.

Q

Please tell us about your efforts and results to date for each business, as well as what you see as challenges forthe future.

In the Payment Business, we are focusing on Generation Z and wealthy people as we work to improve spending per person and lifetime value(LTV). The AMEX brand accounts for approximately 40% of the entire Payment Business’s transaction volume, and we are aiming for the top
share in the BtoB market by leveraging this brand awareness, focusing more on corporate sales, and exercising firm credit controls.
In the Finance Business, we will strengthen our collaboration with Suruga Bank in the areas of real estate finance and the housing
loan business. Digitalization continues to lag in these areas, not only in our company but also in the industry as a whole. Under the next
Medium-term Management Plan, I would therefore like to drive this business to become the No. 1 digital company in the industry and use
this as a tool by which to strengthen sales.
I recognize that the current business environment for the Lease Business, which focuses on small-lot leases, is such that credit
management remains important, as evidenced by the increasing number of bankruptcies of businesses that used so-called zero-zerofinancing. In contrast, as our transaction volume has increased to an all-time high and our competitiveness has improved, we will consider
developing medium- to large-scale lease products. By way of example, we are considering products related to environmental needs, suchas office equipment, drones, electric scooters, and even solar power and storage batteries. In this process, I believe that collaborating witha specialist leasing company could be one option.
In the Real Estate–Related Business, centered on Saison Realty, we are making steady progress with a business model transformationthat will make renovation and rental residences its mainstay businesses. Also taking on the challenges of procuring new resources using
digital technology, I would first like the Real Estate–Related Business, to build up a solid track record.
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The Entertainment Business is developing its hall business centered on Concerto, but the market is facing a decline in the number ofplayers. We will continue to sow the seeds for the next pillars of earnings, such as game centers, renovating vacant houses, and even cloud
kitchens (kitchen store facilities specializing in delivery services), as we work to change the business model.

Q

What are your thoughts on sustainability?

We are honored to have received high praise for our sustainability efforts. Climate change countermeasures, in particular, are importantto our customers, especially Generation Zers, when choosing a company, and I would like to advance our efforts on an ongoing basis.
In addition, once a relationship begins in our business, especially in payment businesses such as credit cards, the relationship with thecustomer continues over a long period. Because safety, security, and stability are essential to deepening relationships of trust and as thefoundation of our business, we also actively invest in IT to strengthen security.
With regard to initiatives designed to fully utilize and develop our human resources, who are essential for our medium- to longterm growth, we are promoting the provision of opportunities to enable young employees, in particular, to actively take on challenges.
Including the setting up of forums for new business proposals and relaxing the qualification requirements for taking promotion exams
that are now by a show of hands, we have introduced a system that broadens promotion opportunities for motivated employees. In thefiscal year under review, we also expanded and upgraded our employee benefits, including financial bonuses and phantom stock. Within
the Company, human resources who possess advanced skills are playing active roles in a variety of fields, not only in digital technology
but also in real estate and structured finance. At the same time, we are also working on instructing and training the next generation, andprogress is being made with human resources and skill diversification.

Q

In closing, what message do you have for stakeholders?

I am committed to working toward equality for all our stakeholders. While continuing to respond sincerely to our customers andbusiness partners, I would like to increase employee engagement through financial bonuses, promotions, and the expansion of training
programs. We recently reached the stage at which more than half of our employees have joined the stock ownership plan, and I feelthat our employees’ expectations for our company are higher as a result of these efforts. To assist employees in building assets, we are
actively discussing PBR, ROE, shareholder returns, and other matters within the Company to further improve our stock price level while
endeavoring to disclose information and deepen dialogue with investors.
For our shareholders, we announced plans to increase dividends for the third consecutive year in our FY2022 financial results. I havelearned a great deal through dialogue with investors who have long-term perspectives, and my feeling is that even the markets are evaluating
our growth expectations favorably. While continuing to strive to improve capital efficiency, I believe that we will raise our ROE target fromthe current 8% to the 10% level under the next Medium-term Management Plan and, as we get within range, that will be reflected in our
PBR.
Our opportunities for growth, including global opportunities, are increasing considerably. I would like all our stakeholders to haveexpectations of Credit Saison’s future growth from a long-term perspective.
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