Friday, 4 March 2016, 16:00 HKT/SGT

TOKYO, Mar 4, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - JCB International Co., Ltd. (JCBI) and UniCredit have launched a partnership that will broaden JCB card acceptance in Italy for tourism and business.

The deal enables the use of JCB cards at UniCredit ATMs and Italian merchants who are clients of the banking group, significantly increasing JCBI's presence in the Italian market and offering more choices to UniCredit customers.

JCBI has increased its presence in Europe in recent years by expanding its merchant network. Currently, JCB cards are accepted by about 29 million merchants worldwide, including several million in Europe. The partnership with UniCredit will further enhance the use of JCB cards in Italy and increase overall brand visibility for JCB cardmembers.

"We are pleased to welcome our new partner to the JCB network. Italy is one of the favorite destinations of Japanese, Asian, and European tourists, so this enhancement of JCB card acceptance will bring more benefits and convenience to JCB card members," said Ryuji Shinzawa, JCBI's Executive Vice President, Head of Sales and Marketing Headquarters - Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Remo Taricani, Italy UniCredit Retail Manager said: "By accepting the JCB payment cards, UniCredit extends its offer of direct payment services. This agreement represents an important step towards the goal of achieving a payment service model fully managed in-house. A few months after agreeing to this launch, we can confirm that our merchants have expressed a high interest in the service and have started accepting JCB cards."

About JCB

Based in Japan, JCB is a major global payment brand with more than 91 million card members. It launched its card business in 1961 and began expanding internationally in 1981. Now the JCB brand is accepted in 190 countries, while its cards are issued in 19 countries and territories. As part of its international growth, JCB has formed alliances with more than 350 business partners around the globe. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB provides responsive and high-quality service and products to all of its customers worldwide. For more information, go to: www.jcbeurope.eu

Note: JCB statistics are as of the end of September 2015

About UniCredit

UniCredit is a leading European financial group with an international network spanning 50 markets. With over 8,000 branches[1] and over 144,000[2] employees serving more than 32 million clients, the Group has commercial banking operations in 17 countries and assets of EUR 860 billion.

As one of the strongest banks in Europe, UniCredit has a Common Equity Tier 1 Capital ratio of 10.94 percent pro-forma (Fully loaded Basel III).

It also has the largest presence of banks in Central and Eastern Europe, with over 3,300 branches and assets of EUR 202 billion.

UniCredit operates in: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine. For more information, please go to www.unicreditgroup.eu/en.

Note: UniCredit data as of December 31, 2015

Contact
Ayako Tanaka
JCB International Co., Ltd.
Corporate Planning
Phone: +81-3-5778-8390
Email: jcbinternational-pr@info.jcb.co.jp

[1] Figures include branches of Koc Financial Group calculated at 100%
[2] FTE "Full Time Equivalent"= number of employees counted for the rate of presence. Figures include employees of Koc Financial Services Group calculated at 100%.

Topic: Business Tieup
Source: JCB / UniCredit
Sectors: Cards & Payments, Travel & Tourism
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From the Asia Corporate News Network