TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese mobile phone services and online shopping mall operator Rakuten Group Inc said it will start preparing for an initial public offering of the group’s online banking unit, as it looks to raise funds from its fintech business.

Rakuten Bank Ltd. had net assets of 186.8 million yen (or 1.69 billion dollars) as of March. The plan to list will enable Rakuten Bank Ltd. to quickly make management decisions and pursue various growth and financial strategy, Rakuten announced in a statement.

Rakuten faces multiple pressures, as it invests in logistics to be competitive with Amazon.com (NASDAQ.) as well as expanding low-cost wireless services against cash-rich incumbents.

Rakuten is one of Japan’s largest homegrown internet businesses, increasingly under threat from tech companies abroad. It simplified credit card applications and reorganized Japan’s financial sector.

Rakuten Bank valuation and details about the IPO’s size were not available immediately.

“If the equity funding proceeds as planned in the next 12 months or so, we believe Rakuten can mitigate a souring of its finances as a result of upfront investments in its mobile unit,” Makiko Yoshimura, analyst at S&P Global (NYSE:) Ratings, said in a report.

($1 = 110.7420 yen)