JCB International Co., Ltd. (JCBI), the international operations subsidiary of JCB, is pleased to announce that Worldline, a global player and the European leader in e-payment and transactional services, have signed a License Agreement for building a JCB card acceptance network and to start JCB merchant acquiring operations in Belgium.
With this arrangement, JCB cards will be accepted at Worldline merchants throughout Belgium starting in early 2015.
JCBI has been increasing its presence in Europe by expanding its merchant network. Currently, JCB cards are accepted at about 25 million merchants worldwide including several millions in Europe. This partnership will significantly increase the number of JCB merchants, which will improve the card acceptance for JCB cardmembers visiting Belgium.
With over 40 years of experience, Worldline is the European leader in the payment and transactional services industry and is active in Merchant Services & Terminals, eMobility & eTransactional Services, and Financial Processing. As a leading payment acquirer and a recognized leading payment institution in Europe, Worldline delivers simplified and secure non-cash payment transactions via a wide range of payment solutions for Point-of-Sale, online and mobile payments.
Mr. Kimihisa Imada, Deputy President of JCBI, said, "As Belgium continues to be the favourite destination for many Japanese, Asian, and European visitors, JCB card acceptance will bring about enhanced opportunities to many business sectors in the beautiful country as well as improved conveniences to JCB cardmembers. JCB is pleased to team up with the Belgian market leader, Worldline, and looks forward to working closely in order to serve our cardmembers, merchants, and our business partners better."
Mr. Willy Walraeve, Chief Executive Officer Worldline in the Benelux, said, "Offering JCB cards will enable Belgian merchants to satisfy a larger range of potential clients. We believe that our customers will benefit from the acceptance of this well recognized and established payment card scheme. We are very proud to add JCB cards in our portfolio and are looking forward to the success of this collaboration."