ICCREA and JCB enter into a new partnership for merchant acquiring business

ICCREA and JCB enter into a new partnership for merchant acquiring business

TOKYO, Sep 28, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - JCB International Co., Ltd. (JCBI), the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., (referred to below as "JCB") and ICCREA Banca S.p.A. (ICCREA) are proud to announce our partnership, aimed at strengthening acceptance of JCB cards in Italy, allowing both companies to focus on growing their businesses and sustaining customer satisfaction.

The agreement will allow the acceptance of JCB cards at all ICCREA POS terminals and for all Italian merchants who are customers of ICCREA. The network will involve 106 million JCB cards and an incipient number of 70,000 POS terminals, which will gradually increase up to 150,000.

This partnership will deliver two key outcomes: firstly, it will increase JCB's throughput in the Italian network, adding value to the card acceptance network and providing greater convenience for JCB cardmembers; secondly, it will contribute to the growth of ICCREA, giving further opportunities and options to its customers across the country.

JCB and ICCREA are combining efforts in the ecommerce space, to ensure security standards are upheld, and will be partnering to ensure that J/Secure is utilized as its new payer authentication service.

The agreement underlines the role of ICCREA Group as a focal point for the development of the services in cooperation with external partners, providing Banche di Credito Cooperativo (BCC) banks and their customers with a further resource for the needs of JCB cardmembers. According to the Italian Government Tourist Board, in 2015, Italy welcomed more than 1 million arrivals from Japan; moreover, Japanese tourists turned out to be the "top spenders" (in comparison to other global tourists), with an average daily disbursement on holiday of EUR 193.00. ( https://www.enit.it/en/studies-and-research.html )

In previous years, the range of services JCB offers has grown and evolved, and so has its presence in the European market, providing customers with a safe and easy to use the payments system. Currently, JCB cards are accepted by the merchants worldwide*. Through the partnership with ICCREA, JCB will further develop the use and acceptance of cards in Italy by increasing its merchant base. The partnership also enhances brand visibility, for the benefit of customers.

Mr. Tsuyoshi Notani, Managing Director, JCB International (Europe) Ltd., said, "Italy is one of the most frequently visited destinations for Asian and European tourists and so it is a key market for us. In order to respond to customer needs, JCB has made efforts to expand merchant network across Italy. We are glad to welcome ICCREA as a new JCB partner because ICCREA can provide nationwide acceptance through their BCC network in Italy. JCB cardmembers will benefit from wider acceptance which will bring more convenience".

Mr. Leonardo Rubattu, Iccrea Banca S.p.A. CEO said, "We, at Iccrea Banca S.p.A., are very satisfied with the agreement reached with a prestigious partner like JCB. First of all because we improve the quality of services provided to the BCC banks on behalf of JCB cardmembers visiting our country for business or leisure reasons. And also because we can enrich services offered by ICCREA in the electronic-money field for the BCC banks and their customers. And, finally, we foresee that this agreement will let ICCREA, one of the best players in Italy for acquiring services, gain a greater market share, providing another important tool for our net of commercial businesses under agreement".

About JCB

JCB is a major global payment brand and a leading payment card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with hundreds of leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase merchant coverage and card member base. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to provide responsive and high-quality service and products to all customers worldwide. Currently, JCB cards are accepted globally and issued in 23 countries and territories. For more information, please visit: www.global.jcb/en/

Note: Statistics about JCB are as of March 2017.

About ICCREA

The Iccrea banking Group gathers the companies that provide BCC banks with a competitive offer system, arranged for their 6 millions customers. Iccrea Banca S.p.A. is the parent company and controls the companies that provide goods and services for BCC banks and their customers: little and intermediate companies (Corporate segment) and families (Retail segment). Up to June 2017, in Italy we have 313 BCC and Rural banks. Up to March 2017 the branches are 4,315, the volume of deposits (banks, customers and bonds) was 195 billion EURO, while the economic lending reached 131,3 billion EURO: this amount grows up to 145,7 if we consider also the lending from second level banks (for an overall 7.9 % of market share). Lending to companies reaches 80,8 billion EURO: this amount grows up to 91,7 billion EURO if we consider also the financing paid out from second level banks (for an overall 10.6% of market share). Assets (share capital and reserves) are worth 19,7 billion EURO.

Contact
JCB International Co., Ltd.
Kae Mitsuda
Global Business Planning
Tel: +81 3 5778 7963
Email: jcbinternational-pr@info.jcb.co.jp


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