Acom Co., Ltd. · FinWiki

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This entry sits under consumer-finance INDEX. Read it against Jaccs for peer / contrast context and banking index for the broader system / regulatory boundary.

TL;DR

A major consumer-finance company under mufg. **Founded 1936 in Kobe by Masao Kinoshita as “Maruito Gofukuten,” renamed to “Acom” in 1978 **, listed on the TSE First Section 1996-10 . Its business centers on unsecured personal loans (the “AC Master Card” card loan, “Mujinkun” automated contract machines) + credit guarantees + overseas (Thailand’s Easy Buy PCL). The MUFG-affiliated member of the “3 major consumer-finance companies,” alongside Acom (mufg affiliated), Promise (SMBCCF within smfg), and Aiful (aiful, independent). Triggered by the 2006-2008 Supreme Court ruling on gray-zone interest, overpayment-refund claims surged, and it became an equity-method affiliate via the 2008-10 MUFG TOB (currently equity-method 37.6% + trust 2.0% = 39.6%).

1. Company overview

Official name: Acom Co., Ltd. Securities code: TSE STANDARD 8572 Founded: 1936 (founded by Masao Kinoshita in Kobe as “Maruito Gofukuten”) Renamed: 1978 (business shift to consumer finance, trade name changed to “Acom”) Headquarters: Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Listing: 1993 店 over-the-counter registration → **listed on the TSE First Section 1996-10 ** → moved to TSE STANDARD in the 2022-04 market-segment review Parent: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (mufg)

Business category / the 3 major consumer-finance companies

Company	Affiliation	Major shareholder	Listing segment
Acom	mufg Group ★	Mitsubishi UFJ equity-method 37.6% + trust 2.0% = 39.6%	TSE STD 8572
Promise (SMBC Consumer Finance)	smfg Group	SMFG 100% wholly-owned subsidiary	Unlisted (delisted 2012 )
aiful	Independent (not megabank-affiliated)	Independent capital centered on the founding Fukuda family	TSE PRIME 8515

Major group companies

Acom (listed 8572, MUFG equity-method 39.6%)
  ├── Acom main body ── the unsecured personal loan "Acom" brand
  │     ├── AC Master Card ── a card loan with credit-card functionality
  │     └── Mujinkun ── automated contract machines (an iconic industry channel)
  ├── Easy Buy PCL (Thailand, 71% consolidated subsidiary)
  │     ── a top-tier Thai consumer-finance company, mainstay being the "Umay+" motorcycle loan
  ├── I-R Credit Recovery (100% subsidiary)
  │     ── servicer business (debt-collection business)
  ├── Acom Guarantee (100% subsidiary)
  │     ── undertaking credit guarantees for bank card loans
  └── Mitsubishi UFJ Bank card-loan "Bankquic" guarantee ── the core of MUFG cooperation

Capital relationship with MUFG

Acquired about 40% via the 2008-10-22 MUFG TOB → became an equity-method affiliate. Since then, it has been incorporated into the core of MUFG’s retail strategy through the bank card-loan guarantee business (Bankquic). As of 2025-03-31, equity-method 37.6% + trust 2.0% = 39.6% (based on MUFG’s 20 th securities report)

2. Business-segment map

Segment	Main business	Characteristics
Unsecured personal loans	Acom / AC Master Card	Mainstay — centered on card loans, Web-complete, Mujinkun automated contract machines
Credit-guarantee business	Undertaking guarantees for Mitsubishi UFJ Bank “Bankquic” etc.	The core of MUFG’s retail strategy, with many regional-bank card-loan guarantees as well
Overseas (Thailand)	Easy Buy PCL “Umay+” (71% consolidated subsidiary)	A top-tier Thai consumer-finance company, axed on motorcycle loans, an industry-leading model
Debt management / collection (servicer)	I-R Credit Recovery	Collection business for own debt + third-party debt
Credit cards	AC Master Card	Self-issued, card-loan-integrated, independent brand

The “Mujinkun” automated contract machine

Said to be the 1993 industry-first introduction, deployed nationwide as an iconic channel of consumer finance. The “Mujinkun” TV commercials were an industry icon of the 2000 年s. Since the overpayment problem, it has trended toward contraction amid the Web shift, but it maintains a certain role as a channel for instant screening and instant card issuance.

Easy Buy PCL (Thailand’s Easy Buy) ★

An industry-leading model of Thai consumer finance. Developed under the “Umay+” brand axed on motorcycle loans, it is a consolidated subsidiary in which Acom holds a 71% stake. It is linked to the Thai economy, the baht, and regulatory risk, but it leads other companies in ASEAN small-lot personal finance. It is also consistent with MUFG’s ASEAN strategy (mufg Krungsri / Bank Danamon).

Credit-guarantee business (MUFG cooperation)

Acom Guarantee (100% subsidiary) undertakes the guarantee for the Mitsubishi UFJ Bank card-loan “Bankquic.” With this, Acom secures revenue along the 2 axes of directly operated personal loans + behind-the-scenes bank credit guarantees, while the MUFG side can offer low-interest products on bank card loans with a cap rate of around 14.6%. It also undertakes many card-loan guarantees for regional banks.

3. History

Date	Event
1936	Masao Kinoshita founded “Maruito Gofukuten” in Kobe ★ (kimono retail)
1960s〜	Business shift from installment sales to consumer finance
1978	Trade name changed to “Acom” ★ (full shift to consumer finance)
1980s	Nationwide deployment, expansion of the unsecured-loan market
1993	Said to be the industry-first introduction of the “Mujinkun” automated contract machine, over-the-counter registration
1996-04	Thailand’s Easy Buy established (later Umay+, an ASEAN-leading model)
1996-10	Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section ★
2003	Peak of the “4 top consumer lenders” era of Promise, Acom, Takefuji, and Aiful
2006-01-13	Supreme Court ruling effectively made “gray-zone interest” illegal ★ → surge in overpayment-refund claims
2006-12	Revised Money Lending Business Act enacted (cap rate cut from 29.2% → 20%, total-volume regulation introduced, enforced 2010-06)
2007〜	The whole industry fell into management distress from overpayment-refund losses
2008-10-22	MUFG acquired about 40% of Acom shares via TOB → became an equity-method affiliate ★
2010-06	Revised Money Lending Business Act fully enforced (cap rate 20%, total-volume regulation of 1/3 of annual income)
2010-2015	Overpayment refunds continued; across the industry Takefuji went into corporate reorganization, while Acom continued under the MUFG structure
2014〜	Phase of business resumption / earnings recovery, increasing weight of the bank card-loan guarantee business
2017-2019	Earnings recovery / profitability entrenched, deepened MUFG retail cooperation
2022-04	TSE market-segment review → TSE STANDARD 8572
FY 2025-03	Maintained MUFG equity-method 37.6% + trust 2.0% = 39.6% (based on MUFG’s securities report)

The overpayment problem and the MUFG TOB (2006-2008) ★

Supreme Court ruling (2006-01-13): Largely denied the “deemed repayment” provision of the Money Lending Business Act → amounts exceeding the Interest Rate Restriction Act (cap 15-20%) carry an obligation to refund as unjust enrichment
2006 revised Money Lending Business Act: cut the cap rate from 29.2% → 20%, introduced total-volume regulation (1/3 of annual income)
Overpayment refunds: on the order of several trillion yen across the industry; Acom too was pressured by huge provisions
2008-10-22 MUFG TOB: Mitsubishi UFJ Bank (then the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ) acquired about 40%, and capital injection and bank-affiliate reorganization were achieved via equity-method affiliation

Positioning as a MUFG affiliate ★

Bank card-loan guarantee: the core of MUFG’s retail strategy via the Bankquic guarantee
Funding: lower cost than independents (aiful) through intra-MUFG-group funding
Customer referral: customer-acquisition efficiency through cooperation with Mitsubishi UFJ Bank ATMs / branches
Overseas: Easy Buy (Thailand) in a complementary relationship with MUFG’s ASEAN strategy (mufg Krungsri)

Competitive structure

Competitor	Affiliation	Difference from Acom
Promise (SMBCCF)	smfg 100% wholly-owned subsidiary	Integrated operation with its parent bank; high referral efficiency as an SMFG 100% subsidiary, delisted
aiful	Independent	Founding-family-centered, Kyoto-originated, outside the megabank affiliations, dependent on its own credit data
Rakuten Card / PayPay Card	rakuten-fg / paypay-fg	Integrated with e-commerce / payment platforms, leading among younger demographics
Bank card loans (directly operated)	All megabanks / regional banks	Many relationships of “infrastructure provider rather than enemy” via the Acom guarantee
orico / credit-saison / jaccs	Installment-credit affiliated	A different individual-installment axis, adjacent to consumer finance

Medium-term strategy (publicly disclosed direction)

MUFG retail deepening: the dual engines of Bankquic guarantees + unsecured personal loans
AI credit scoring: improving the precision of Web-complete, instant screening
Overseas (Thailand’s Easy Buy) expansion: leveraging the leading position in ASEAN small-lot personal finance
AC Master Card: expanding usage scenes via card-loan + credit-card integration
Debt collection (I-R Credit Recovery): cultivating the collection business for own debt + external debt as a revenue axis

B2C branding

Became an industry icon of the 1990-2000 年s with the “Mujinkun” commercials, symbolizing instant screening and instant card issuance
The “Acom” brand = consumer finance, with separate brand layers in “AC Master Card” and “Umay+” (Thailand)
High-visibility branding centered on green (the corporate color)

5. Regulation / policy

Supervisor: Financial Services Agency (FSA)
Registration: a registered money lender under the Money Lending Business Act
Industry association: a member of the Japan Financial Services Association (JFSA)
Key regulations:
- Money Lending Business Act: cap rate 20% (20% for 10 万円 and below, 18% for 10〜100 万円, 15% for over 100 万円)
- Total-volume regulation: an individual’s total borrowing is up to 1 /3 of annual income (fully enforced 2010-06 )
- Installment Sales Act: a comprehensive credit-purchase-intermediation provider for the AC Master Card portion
- Act on the Protection of Personal Information: handling of credit information
Overseas regulation: Thailand Bank of Thailand (BoT) regulation — related to Easy Buy PCL
Recent policy points:
- From 2024: accountability of AI credit / prohibition of discrimination
- Overpayment-refund claims are on a declining trend but have not fully disappeared
- The “de facto total-volume-regulation overage” problem of bank card loans (industry self-regulation)

mufg — parent company (equity-method 37.6% + trust 2.0% = 39.6%)
smfg — a competitor among the 3 major consumer-finance companies (Promise = SMBCCF 100% subsidiary)
aiful — a competitor among the 3 major consumer-finance companies (independent, TSE PRIME 8515)
jaccs — a major installment-credit company, an adjacent sector
orico — a major installment-credit company, an adjacent sector
credit-saison — a major installment-credit company, an adjacent sector
rakuten-fg — encroachment by Rakuten Card on younger demographics
paypay-fg — payment-platform encroachment by PayPay Card
sbi-shinsei-bank — competition from Lake ALSA (formerly GE-affiliated, now within SBI Shinsei Bank)

Sources

Wikipedia: Acom Co., Ltd. (https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/アコム, referenced 2026-05-19, public information only)
Acom official IR (TSE STANDARD 8572 disclosure materials, the public portion / securities reports)
MUFG 20 th-term (FY 2025-03 ) securities report (the public portion, the basis for equity-method 37.6% + trust 2.0% = 39.6%)
Wikipedia: gray-zone interest / revised Money Lending Business Act / Supreme Court 2006-01-13 ruling (public laws / precedents)
Wikipedia: Easy Buy PCL / Umay+ (related to the Thai base, public information)

[!info] Verification status confidence: likely (composed of public information only, 2026-05-19). The founding year (1936 Kobe / Maruito Gofukuten), renaming year (1978), listing year (1996-10 TSE First Section), MUFG TOB (2008-10-22), equity-method ratio (39.6%), and Easy Buy (Thailand 71%) are within the range confirmable via Wikipedia + MUFG’s public securities reports + public precedents. FY 2024 individual figures are the public portion only, and no internal materials or non-public information are included whatsoever.