JCB International Co., Ltd. (JCBI, headquarters in Tokyo, Atsushi Niimura, President) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ, headquarters in Melbourne) today announced a new partnership agreement covering JCB merchant businesses in 11 countries and territories including the Fiji Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam etc.

JCBI, the international arm and subsidiary of Japan's leading credit card company JCB Co., Ltd. (headquarters in Tokyo, Isao Nakanishi, President and CEO) has granted ANZ a JCB business license including merchant acquiring and merchant sales processing in Vietnam and the South Pacific. ANZ will begin JCB merchant acquiring business from March 2002.

ANZ, one of the top four banks in Australia, is building the leading cards business in Australasia by focusing on product innovation and providing a distinctive and superior customer experience. Through the arrangement with JCB, ANZ will conduct JCB merchant business in the Fiji Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Independent State of Samoa, Kingdom of Tonga, the Solomon Islands, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, American Samoa, and East Timor and Vietnam.

ANZ will become a merchant acquirer for JCB and will assume responsibility for processing and servicing new merchants and existing JCB merchants. ANZ merchants that do not currently accept JCB Cards will be given the capability to begin accepting JCB.

Through the agreement with ANZ, JCB merchants in the South Pacific are expected to expand to 2,000, which is comparable to other international card brands. JCB card members will be guaranteed greater acceptability.

In Vietnam, JCBI has already granted merchant acquiring business licenses to Vietcom Bank and UOB (United Overseas Bank). By welcoming ANZ as the third licensing partner, the JCB merchant network will be expanded.

In Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, JCBI traditionally established direct contractual relationships with merchants with the support of ANZ as agent. Under the new arrangement, ANZ will have direct contractual relationships with merchants. The ANZ merchants will be able to accept JCB Cards electronically in the same manner as Visa, MasterCard and American Express cards through ANZ POS terminals.

ANZ will also establish a JCB merchant network in Independent State of Samoa, Kingdom of Tonga, the Solomon Islands, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, American Samoa, and East Timor where JCB cards had not been accepted in the past.

Vietnam is a popular tourist destination amongst young Japanese women, showing an increase of 40~50% in the number of visitors over the past few years. The countries in the South Pacific, famous for beach resorts and natural wonders, are also expected to continue to attract tourists from Japan.

The agreement with ANZ will bring benefits to both companies. JCBI will be able to expand the JCB merchant network by adding ANZ merchants to meet the expanding needs of JCB cardmembers. ANZ, by adding JCB as the third international card brand product after Visa and MasterCard, will be able to strengthen its presence as a credit card market leader and POS terminal provider in each country.

JCB will continue to expand its international merchant network for the convenience of JCB Cardmembers.

About ANZ
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited is one of Australia's leading financial services companies with A$185 billion in assets operating in 27 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, ANZ has more than four million retail and business customers in Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific, and is a leading provider of trade services.

Reference:
<ANZ Bank>
Corporate name: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia
Branches: 775 in Australia, 143 in New Zealand and representation throughout Asia-Pacific. ANZ also offers services for clients in New York and London
Business locations: 27 countries

About JCB International Co., Ltd.
JCB, which launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding overseas in 1981, is an international brand and the largest card issuer in Japan. Its merchant network spans 189 countries and territories and serves 40 million cardmembers worldwide. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has aligned with more than 200 leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase merchant coverage.