The enabling of the EVO merchant portfolio increases JCB acceptance at small-to-medium sized businesses, particularly merchants utilizing integrated payments, and grants JCB additional access to ISV providers who are especially active in the UK. The UK and Ireland partnership follows a successful trial in Poland in 2017 when JCB acceptance was enabled for existing EVO merchants.

The expansion of JCB's relationship with EVO is a key milestone for JCB's growth, as the company continues to drive acceptance coverage across Europe for its 130 million global cardmembers and expands its network of around 30 million merchant partners.

Mr. Tsuyoshi Notani, Managing Director, JCB International (Europe) Ltd., said: "JCB's partnership with EVO Payments demonstrates our ongoing work to establish efficient acceptance across both the UK and Ireland and in Europe more widely. Our efforts to widen acceptance come about as JCB card membership grows in new countries from which more and more people are visiting Europe."

Darren Wilson, President International, EVO Payments, Inc., said: "Our partnership with JCB will allow the 130 million JCB cardmembers to make payments at all EVO merchant sites across the UK and Ireland that are part of the JCB network. Expanding our card acceptance capabilities so that travellers from Asia can easily make card payments is an important enhancement to our merchant proposition."