Japanese esports organisation REJECT announced that its Pokémon UNITE roster will receive limited-time sponsorship support from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) for the upcoming Pokémon World Championships 2026.

To back the team’s run at the World Championships, SMBC, which is one of Japan’s largest banks, will provide sponsorship support for this event only. As part of the arrangement, players’ competition uniforms will carry two logos: one for “Olive“, SMBC’s all-in-one financial app, and one for SMBC itself. Both logos will appear on the chest and left shoulder of the jerseys.

Olive is a service from SMBC Group that combines several financial functions in a single app, including a bank account, credit and debit cards, point-based payments, and a connection to SBI Securities for investing.

Apart from their deal with SMBC, REJECT and Olive will also run a promotional campaign tied to the sponsorship. People who open an Olive account during the promotional period and keep a balance of at least 15,000 yen in the account by the end of that period can receive a specially designed Apple Pay card and a tote bag, both made in collaboration with REJECT.

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The Pokémon World Championships 2026 (WCS2026) is set to take place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from August 28 to 30, 2026. REJECT’s Pokémon UNITE division earned its spot at Worlds by finishing second at the Pokémon UNITE Asia Champions League 2026 Finals (PUACL 2026 FINALS) in June.

The arrangement with SMBC was made possible through REJECT’s Supporters programme, a system that lets companies and individuals back the team’s activities through small donations.

SMBC isn’t the first company to take part in REJECT’s support programme. A number of companies, including eye-care products brand Rohto Pharmaceutical, beanbag sofa company Yogibo, Japanese food and biotechnology firm Ajinomoto, and Sony’s Inzone brand, have used this programme in the past for corporate branding, recruitment publicity, and networking.

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