() is one of the largest Japanese consumer finance companies. The company is based in Kyoto and has annual profits of close to ¥100 billion on over ¥2 trillion worth of loans (2005). The company had to restructure its debt after failing to make a loan payment.
==History== Aiful was established in April 1967 by Yoshitaka Fukuda as a sole-proprietorship. In 1978, this small company was reformed in Kyoto as Marutaka, Inc. and opened its first four branches to expand its consumer-finance business. The company continued to grow over the next five years and it acquired three small companies in the same business segment and renamed itself Aiful in 1983. These mergers gave the company over ¥90 million in capital and a growing market share in the consumer loan sector. Soon afterward, the company began to offer home-equity and small business loans. During the 1980s and up to the present day, the company has continued to expand by finding new investment opportunities, particularly real estate, engaging in mergers to increase its market share.
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