Intage Inflation Tracker to be Published Monthly

[Joint Release] This content is also distributed by Intage Inc. and Intage Research Inc. in the same manner.

Nowcast Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & CEO: Hitoshi Tsujinaka; hereinafter "Nowcast"), a Finatext Group company that realizes embedded finance through the provision of next-generation financial infrastructure, Intage Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & President: Ayumu Higaki; hereinafter "Intage"), and Intage Research Inc. (Headquarters: Higashikurume City, Tokyo; Representative Director & President: Kiyoyuki Murakami; hereinafter "Intage Research") have launched a new report, the "Intage Inflation Tracker" (English name: Japan Inflation Tracker), which multi-layeredly visualizes Japanese household inflation expectations and purchasing behavior, and will begin continuous monthly information dissemination. The analysis will be supervised by Tsutomu Watanabe, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo (Nowcast Founder, Director, and "Organic Data Lab" Director). The first report, published on April 24, 2026, summarizes the analysis results regarding price trends after the outbreak of the Iran War.

■ Background and Aim of the Launch: Building a Continuous "Economic Infrastructure" to Support EBPM

This project aims to establish a unique, continuous leading indicator for Japan that captures the correlation between household "mindset (consciousness)" and "behavior (quantity)" during the inflation phase, which is occurring for the first time in 30 years, and to contribute to the advancement of Evidence-Based Policy Making (EBPM).

The Bank of Japan's "Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices (January 2026)" predicts that the inflation rate will move at a level generally consistent with the 2% target (*). However, data analysis by this project revealed that as of November last year, over 60% of companies had already raised their own product prices by more than 2%, and a similar trend was observed in household behavior, indicating that inflation exceeding 2% is widely prevalent in real society. By integrating such macro forecasts with on-site actual values and vividly depicting the true state of the economy, this project will serve as a new "economic infrastructure" that complements existing statistics.

[Report Excerpt] Proportion of households and companies with inflation rates exceeding 2%

■ Uniqueness and Continuity of the Indicator

This report will be published in late every month, under the supervision of Tsutomu Watanabe, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo, providing multi-layered analysis that integrates the strengths of the following three companies.

Nowcast Inc.

Provides real-time economic analysis utilizing expertise in alternative data analysis, instantly visualizing rapidly changing inflation conditions.

Intage Inc.

Utilizes barcode-level purchasing logs from SCI® (National Consumer Panel Survey), a consumer purchasing data of 70,000 consumers nationwide. It captures "when, where, what, and for how much" consumers bought at a micro level.

Intage Research Inc.

Leverages expertise in social and public sectors to conduct surveys of 10,000 people. It captures psychological aspects such as the actual feeling of wage increases and satisfaction with living foundations.

■ Notice of Regular Publication

Regular Publication: Monthly reports will be published every month on the "Business Insights" page (https://www.intage-research.co.jp/insights/) within Intage Research's corporate website.

■ Future Initiatives by the Three Companies

Going forward, Nowcast, Intage, and Intage Research will jointly promote the creation and publication of this report, as well as: ① provision of dashboards combining purchasing results × consciousness data, etc., ② effectiveness verification of measures and pricing policies through digital twins/simulations for local governments and companies, and ③ promotion of joint research programs in collaboration with researchers. We will continuously create evidence effective for public, financial, and private decision-making, and further strengthen our partnership based on data and social implementation.

*: Refer to the Bank of Japan's "Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices (January 2026)"

[About Finatext Group and Nowcast Inc.]

Finatext Group is a fintech company group that aims to "reinvent finance as a service" and realizes embedded finance through the provision of next-generation financial infrastructure. It owns operating companies such as Finatext Inc., which re-examines the ideal state of financial services from a user perspective and develops new financial services with partner businesses; Nowcast Inc., which provides alternative data analysis services; Smartplus Inc., which provides a securities business platform; Smartplus Small Amount Short Term Insurance Inc., a next-generation digital insurance company; and Smartplus Credit Inc., which provides systems and operations necessary for lending services in an integrated manner. The group aims to realize a "world where finance is closer to daily life."

Company Name: Finatext Holdings Inc.

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