LayerX Signs Sales Partner Agreement with Hiroshima Bank. Launching New Service Combining '<Hirogin> Smart Fine' and Bakuraku.

LayerX Inc. (Representative Director and CEO: Yoshinori Fukushima, hereinafter 'LayerX') announces that it has signed a sales partner agreement with Hiroshima Bank, Ltd. (President: Kazuo Kiyomune, hereinafter 'Hiroshima Bank') and Hirogin IT Solutions Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Tsuyoshi Yanagida, hereinafter 'Hirogin IT Solutions'). Based on this agreement, a new service combining 'Bakuraku Invoice Receipt' and Hiroshima Bank's ' Smart Fine' will be launched on March 31, 2026. ## Background of the Collaboration The workload in accounting operations is increasing due to the tightening of laws and regulations that companies must comply with, such as the introduction of the invoice system and the revision of the Electronic Record Retention Law. Furthermore, combined with labor shortages caused by a declining population and an aging workforce, it is becoming difficult to manage with conventional analog operations. Especially in regional areas, a lack of specialized personnel required for digitalization has made the delayed progress of DX a significant issue. LayerX provides 'Bakuraku Invoice Receipt' to streamline these invoice operations, receiving and digitizing all types of invoices online—whether paper invoices sent by mail or PDF invoices attached to emails—thereby supporting the DX of accounting operations. Hirogin Holdings, Inc., which has Hiroshima Bank and Hirogin IT Solutions as its subsidiaries, is committed to promoting DX for its customers and the region. Leveraging its customer base primarily in Hiroshima Prefecture, it aims to further solve customer issues and revitalize the region by focusing on DX consulting and solution provision, in addition to its traditional support for IT tool introduction and system development. ## Service Overview By linking ' Smart Fine' (hereinafter 'Smart Fine'), a unique service combining 'Invoice DX' and 'Payment DX' that Hiroshima Bank started offering in June 2025, with 'Bakuraku Invoice Receipt' provided by LayerX, the entire process from invoice receipt to payment processing will be digitized end-to-end. Using Bakuraku's advanced AI-OCR function, information from invoices and statements is digitized and linked to the payment DX service of ' Smart Fine', enabling payment operations to be completed entirely online. This is expected to reduce manual data entry and verification work. It will also contribute to reducing the practical burden associated with compliance with systems like the Electronic Record Retention Law and suppressing input errors. In addition, centrally managing the process from invoice receipt to payment on data will advance the visualization of operations, leading to the construction of a highly transparent internal control environment. ## Future Outlook Combining LayerX's cutting-edge AI implementation capabilities and expertise in the back-office domain with the Hiroshima Bank Group's deep understanding of local communities and financial know-how.