JCB Corporate Site Payment Solutions

Innovating easier payment, richer lifestyles

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Anticipating emerging customer needs and new market demand is integral to JCB's payment solutions business. JCB was the first to implement contactless credit functionality in the Japanese market, through a successful six-month pilot project at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2004. The dual interface e-METI JCB Business Card allowed employees to pay with contactless credit at METI canteens by simply holding out the card near the surface of a card reader. Also designed for the business market, JCB's Offica multifunction smart card solution incorporates contactless technology for employee identification, attendance tracking, office access control and cashless purchasing at cafeterias and vending machines. Purchases are settled to the employee's own JCB card, eliminating the need to load value with cash and allowing users to earn loyalty points and mileage at the office, too.

The area of mobile payment is also a huge potential market for JCB. Recent developments include the implementation of Mobile Offica with NTT DoCoMo's i-mode® FeliCa® Preview Service in which employees use a mobile handset instead of a plastic card for Offica functions such as office access and small payments. Similarly, JCB launched an Offica Watch trial in 2004 in conjunction with Casio for yet another convenient application of the multifunction corporate solution. The mobile area in particular offers opportunities beyond simple payment systems for new and innovative functionality, and thus higher value-added products and services for the individual and corporate user alike.

QUICPay is a payment solution designed for locations where speed and convenience are important. Rolled out by JCB in 2005, QUICPay leverages the advantages of fast offline processing so that a purchase can be made in less than one second, much quicker than payment by cash. A part of the customer’s existing credit limit is assigned to a contactless IC chip, which may be embedded in a plastic card or in a mobile phone handset. QUICPay purchases are linked to the cardholder’s existing JCB credit card account so that users can also enjoy earning loyalty points on all their daily purchases.

QUICPay is available for Japan’s major mobile providers like NTT DoCoMo mobile wallet phones and KDDI au handset equipped with Sony’s Felica smart card technology, and is scheduled to become available for Vodafone handsets in the near future, as part of an aggressive strategy to develop the contactless payment market.

JCB is aggressively building the market for QUICPay by encouraging other credit card companies to offer QUICPay services to their cardmembers, and at the same time promoting QUICPay acceptance with merchants. In addition, the Mobile Payment Promotion Association (MOPPA) was established in October 2005 with a mission of promoting standardized mobile contactless payment systems in Japan. As of February 2006, 68 members including JCB are participating in the association.

JCB is once again taking the lead in the corporate card market by developing a wide array of solutions for business beyond the simple expense account charge card. First among these are the corporate purchasing card, for business procurement needs, and the corporate distribution card, which functions to outsource the corporate client's account receivables to JCB. These solutions leverage JCB's existing expertise and systems in granting credit, payment processing and authentication to a broader market, offering businesses the longer grace period of the credit card for their procurement activities, and suppliers more effective and efficient receivables management and collection. JCB is constantly striving to push beyond conventional concepts of payment systems in order to provide businesses with more rational and cost-effective solutions to their needs.