As consumers seek greater speed and convenience in their payment transactions, merchants are increasingly adopting QR codes and other digital payment types. The Worldpay from FIS 2020 Global Payments Report found that digital wallets now account for 58 percent of regional eCommerce purchases and are expected to reach almost 70 percent by 2023. Digital wallets also now surpass cash at the point-of-sale, accounting for 36 percent of in-store sales in 2019.

JCB, a leading international payment scheme based in Japan, was looking for a technology provider to help it drive acceptance of QR payments among consumers as part of its quest to be the preferred card brand. JCB chose FIS because of its global footprint, deep network of local acquiring licenses, and for the advanced capabilities of FIS' Payments One switching and acquiring services platform.

The FIS Payments One switching and acquiring services platform is customizable across a range of device and payment types. With this new payment method integrated into the platform, FIS partner banks can quickly and easily enable JCB QR Code Payment for their client base.

JCB plans to first use the Payments One switching and acquiring services platform to handle QR payments between Vietnam and Thailand, with plans to roll out across the APAC region.

"Improving the customer experience across the market is our number one goal," said Kenta Seya, Executive Vice President, Global Network Implementation Department at JCB Co., Ltd. "By creating a cross-border solution, we look forward to creating a more consistent experience for JCB card members as they travel, allowing them to pay using their preferred method, no matter where they go. Working with FIS will give us the broad reach to their partner banks globally to achieve the goal."

"By integrating QR payments for JCB cardholders through our Payments One switching and acquiring services platform, our partner banks will now have a way to deliver QR-based payments faster than before," said Mahesh Ramamoorthy, Managing Director, Banking Solutions, FIS.

Worldpay from FIS has been supporting JCB's merchant acquiring business internationally since the 1990s. In last December, FIS and JCB enabled card acceptance for Worldpay from FIS merchants in Japan, and this announcement further extends the companies' partnership.

[1] FIS' Payments One switching and acquiring services platform is a highly scalable payment processing solution for credit, debit, multicurrency prepaid, virtual card, digital wallets, loyalty programs and other value-added services.