Tokyo, Japan, Sept 7, 2007–JCB Co., Ltd. (JCB), a major global payment brand and leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan, and JCB International Co., Ltd. (JCBI), JCB’s international subsidiary, announced the launch of the Breeze Center JCB Card with the J/Speedy™ contactless payment program in alliance with Union Bank of Taiwan (Union Bank). This will be the first card with J/Speedy in the world. J/Speedy allows customers to pay quickly and easily by simply tapping the card – no signature is required.

Yuichi Momose, President and General Manager of JCBI (Taiwan), said, “JCB is pleased to launch J/Speedy on the Breeze Center JCB Card, the first card with JCB’s global standarized contactless payment solution. I believe contactless payment is the key for shaping a new era in payments, and JCB is proud to take this first step toward that new era.”

J/Speedy is a global standard-based (ISO/IEC 14443) contactless payment solution, developed by sharing Visa Asia Pacific’s contactless specification for common merchant acceptance. The solution allows lower development costs for vendors and a more attractive value proposition for merchant investment in terminals and card readers, promoting expansion of the contactless payment infrastructure in the Asia market.

Union Bank, a major commercial bank in Taiwan, has been issuing JCB cards and acquiring JCB card acceptance locations in Taiwan since 2002, and started issuing the Breeze Center JCB Card with the country’s most popular shopping mall in 2002. Union Bank decided to add the J/Speedy contactless payment program in order to give customers even greater convenience and ease of payment at Breeze Center shops.

JCB and JCBI will continue promoting the J/Speedy contactless payment program in Taiwan and the rest of Asia, a market that has already seen the introduction of multiple international brand contactless payment programs, expanding both issuing of JCB brand cards with J/Speedy and merchant acceptance.

About J/Speedy

J/Speedy is JCB’s global standard-based (ISO/IEC 14443) contactless payment solution, which has been developed in recognition of the necessity of globally standardized contactless payment service for markets around the world. In Japan, JCB also rolled out the QUICPay™ contactless payment product in April 2005 based on Sony’s FeliCa® chip specification, which is widely employed for contactless payment solutions such as public transportation fare systems and mobile phone applications in Japan.

(FeliCa® is a contactless smart card technology and registered trademark of Sony Corporation.)

About JCB Co., Ltd.

JCB is a major global payment brand and leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding overseas in 1981. Its merchant network includes 13.5 million merchants and spans 190 countries and territories. JCB cards are now issued in 19 countries and territories, with more than 55.75 million cardmembers. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with more than 350 leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase merchant coverage and cardmember base. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to provide responsive and high-quality service and products to all customers worldwide. For more information, visit: http://www.jcbcorporate.com/english

Contact

Kazumi KINOSHITA
Tomomi SAKAE
Brand Promotion & Strategic Alliances Group
International Strategy Planning Department
JCB Co., Ltd.
+81-3-5778-8390
kazumi.kinoshita@jcb.co.jp
tomomi.sakae@jcb.co.jp