Japan's Sony Corporation - a dominant force in the electronics industry - has taken a step in another direction by opening an internet bank in Japan.
It is hoping to tempt customers away from existing banks, many of which are struggling under the weight of bad loans that will never be repaid.
Sony has taken an 80% share in the new venture with its partners, the Mitsui Sumitomo Bank and JP Morgan Chase.
For one of the world's most recognisable brand names, this is a radical departure.
Sony hopes it can apply its expertise in electronics - and its marketing skills - to banking.
There will be no physical branches it is purely an internet service.
Sony hopes to target customers who are comfortable with new technology.
Strong brand
Sony built its reputation on technical innovation.
Its Playstation2 machine has been taking the computer game market by storm.
The online banking service will also feature stylish software features.
It calls itself a bank for individuals and hopes to appeal to fashionable city dwellers.
It is challenging the might of traditional banks, which are finally being exposed to competition because of deregulation.
Service is often painfully slow, and charges are high. But mergers have given some big players huge market share with tens of millions of customers.
Banks in the red
Some analysts are not optimistic about the prospects for newcomers like Sony.
"The retail business for these new entrants is going to be in the red for a significant period of time," says David Atkinson, MD Goldman Sachs, Japan.
"The only question therefore, must be, can they afford to continue to pay for that red ink for a long enough period of time, probably the answer to that is no."
More than twenty million Japanese use mobile phones to get online - but relatively few have fixed line internet connections, that could present another problem for Sony.
The banking service will not be available on mobile phones until it has established its reliability through PC's.
However, Japan's banks are notorious for their inefficiency.
The entry into the market of one of the country's most successful companies will at least provide some competition - but the timing could hardly be worse.
With interest rates at near zero there is little scope for banks to make a decent profit.