Japan Post Bank is the successor of the postal-savings system dating back to the Meiji era. It was partially privatized in 2015, when the government sold to the public an 11% stake in parent company Japan Post Holdings, which in turn sold 11% stakes in Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance to the public. After follow-on offerings by the parent in September 2017 and November 2021, Japan Post Bank is now 30% indirectly owned by the government. Japan Post Bank has 234 direct branches and also accepts deposits and sells investment products at more than 24,000 post offices across the country through a sales-agency agreement with Japan Post (an unlisted subsidiary of Japan Post Holdings).