Tokyo, 26 September 2003 - JCB International Co., Ltd., the international arm of Japan's top credit card company and Taiwan Cooperative Bank announced the launch of Taiwan Cooperative Bank JCB Card in Taiwan.

"We are very pleased to welcome Taiwan Cooperative Bank as a new issuing partner in Taiwan," commented JCB International Chairman and CEO, Hiroya Nobuhara. "With superior management ability, the most branches in Taiwan and a great many top-class customers, we will see further growth of the JCB cardmember base due to this partnership. In addition, all the consumers of Taiwan will have a wider choice of options and services. As the Daruma Doll motif of the new cards portends, this partnership is sure to lead to a major success."

William Ming-Chung Tseng President of Taiwan Cooperative Bank stated, "This is a strategic partnership with JCB, an international brand and Japan's largest credit card company, making it possible to offer our customers high quality service. Japanese products are very popular here in Taiwan, and we are sure that our business with JCB will grow."

Since 1994, JCB International has been actively promoting card issuing in Taiwan, a strategically important market for expanding the cardmember base in Asia. Since 2000 alone, 17 banks have begun issuing the JCB card in Taiwan, tripling the number of cardmembers.