TOKYO, March 18 Reuters As Japan nears an end to eight years of negative interest rates, a regional lender in Kyoto is offering elearning to train up staff who have no experience lending money or collecting deposits in a positive interest rate environment.

One of the sessions, targeting roughly 3,300 Bank of Kyoto employees, explains why interest rates are important, how the lending rate is set and how rising interest rates affect the bank39;s business and its clients.

In other sessions, the bank39;s older executives with experience of the days when Japan had positive interest rates share their knowhow on convincing borrowers to swallow higher charges.

The etraining, which is offered in sessions of about 30 minutes viewable on smartphones, also aims to get younger staff geared up for intensifying competition to attract deposits, which until now had been a liability as lenders sat on a huge pile of money.

Other sessions offer more practical guidance on how to explain to borrowers that lending rates will rise and to increase deposits through better communication with customers.

It39;s pretty basic because we want younger staff, in particular, to understand what it39;s like in a world where interest rates are positive, Tadashi Shimamoto, deputy general manager at Bank of Kyoto39;s human resources and general affairs division, said in an interview.

It39;s crucial to have our staff understand that things are quite different when interest rates rise, and to change their…