Sumitomo Mitsui Card Uses Gen-AX AI for Contact Centers

Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., Ltd. is a prominent Japanese financial services firm, which has now rolled out autonomous AI voice operators within their contact centers as one major step toward offering 24/7 customer support and a generative AI-powered service ecosystem. The effort utilizes the “X-Ghost” AI voice response solution by Gen-AX Co., Ltd. and further concretizes a wider-ranging digital alliance that Sumitomo Mitsui Card forged with SoftBank Corp. back in May 2025.

The introduction of AI operators will revolutionize the traditional model of contact centers, enhance operational efficiency, and provide customers with effortless support around the clock-a move that could reshape both the Japanese financial services sector and the broader tech landscape.

Managing High-Volume Customer Inquiries

Sumitomo Mitsui Card’s contact centers handle over 500,000 customer inquiries per month, from card usage to fraud alerts. Maintaining high-quality, round-the-clock service traditionally required large teams and extensive training. By integrating Gen-AX’s autonomous AI, the company can now automate routine interactions, reduce operational pressure, and ensure consistent quality in responses throughout all touchpoints with customers.

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First, the AI operators are being deployed for inquiries about fraudulent notifications pretending to come from the company, while plans are in place to extend the coverage to card usage and service-related inquiries over the next fiscal years. In fact, by fiscal 2026, a full-scale deployment of the AI system is expected to handle the majority of contact center interactions, freeing human staff for complex, high-value work.

How X-Ghost AI Operators Work

The “X-Ghost” system utilizes a speech-to-speech AI model, which supports conversations with the flow of real speech. While traditional IVR systems are menu-driven, the AI operator will respond dynamically to the customer’s words, allowing smoother and more intuitive interactions.

Key technical features include:

Speech-to-Speech: Reduces loss and latency for coherence and real-time responses.

Safety and Compliance: Monitoring AI will embed risk assessment and guardrail controls to avoid any miscommunication or policy breach.

Context-Aware Integration: We support automated response with in-house API connections, making workflow automation seamless.

24/7 Operation: Operates continuously, further solidifying consumer faith and ease.

This in return enhances both customer experience and significantly reduces the workload of human agents, which is very crucial given the increase in the volume of inquiries within the financial sector.

Implications for Japan’s Tech Industry

The rollout of the Gen-AX AI operators represents more than a business efficiency campaign-it portends a wider trend in the Japanese tech industry toward AI-driven solutions for enterprise. Key implications include:

Accelerating AI Adoption in Financial Services

The pressure is on for Japanese banks and financial institutions to modernize operations and meet increasing customer expectations around digital services. With the implementation of its AI-powered contact centers, Sumitomo Mitsui Card shows how generative AI can be safely and effectively applied in high-consequence, customer-facing environments. This may provide a blueprint for broader AI adoption across Japan’s finance sector and spur competitors to integrate AI technologies into their operations.

Efficiency and Workforce Optimization

This, in turn, enables companies to best allocate their workforce to tasks that require judgment, empathy, or complex problem-solving. This trend could fuel growth for AI solution providers, system integrators, and AI consulting services, creating new business opportunities and driving innovation in the enterprise software development space for the Japanese tech ecosystem.

Bolstering AI infrastructure and innovation.

The X-Ghost system by Gen-AX represents an increasingly sophisticated side of the AI ecosystem in Japan. This solution of advanced AI-through the combination of voice synthesis, natural language understanding, and secure API integration-stands out and could be applied to other industries, such as healthcare, e-commerce, and public services. Such real-world deployments further strengthen Japan’s position as a hub for enterprise AI innovation, attracting both domestic and international investment.

Enhancing Customer Trust and Compliance

Financial services in Japan have strict regulatory requirements for data security and customer protection. In-built safety monitoring and compliance controls by the operators of the AI further reinforce adherence to those standards, demonstrating that AI can be both innovative and regulatory-compliant — a very critical consideration for conservative industries contemplating AI adoption.

Outlook

Sumitomo Mitsui Card will further develop AI operator functionality beyond fraud notifications and problems with card usage. Over the next few years, it said it hopes AI systems will handle most queries coming into contact centers, integrating them with wider generative AI services to bolster both customer engagement and operational efficiency.

This marks a milestone in AI-driven enterprise transformation for Japan, giving a glimpse into a future when AI operators become standard in customer service, workflow automation, and intelligent business operations. As more and more enterprises adopt AI solutions, related sectors are likely to see substantial growth in AI development firms, cybersecurity providers, and data management specialists.

Conclusion

The deployment of Gen-AX AI operators at Sumitomo Mitsui Card showcases the real-world value of generative AI in high-volume, customer-facing environments. From enabling 24/7 autonomous responses and improving efficiency through better operations to assuring compliance, it sets a new benchmark for AI adoption in the Japanese financial services sector.

This deployment underlines for the wider Japanese tech industry the potential of AI in enterprise productivity, innovation, and AI ecosystem growth-areas that will continue to reinforce Japan’s leadership within AI-driven business transformations.