Moreover, contributions from profitable products and services that do not rely on the volume of assets remain meager. BIS Review 14/2008  3  Factors behind the low profitability Let us now discuss why the profitability of Japan's financial sector remains low.
First, as a business model, many financial institutions still rely heavily on traditional deposit taking and lending, which can be provided by any financial institution, as a source of profits. In general, it is difficult to sharpen the competitive edge of those products unless their pricing is constantly being reviewed.