Tokyo - April 29, 2004 - JCB Co., Ltd. (JCB), a leading international payment brand, has signed an agreement with Odakyu Card Co., Ltd. (OCC) to provide all issuing-related services except cardmember recruitment for a new Odakyu JCB Card, starting in April. Odakyu Card is a subsidiary of the major Japanese rail company, Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd (OER), a member of the Odakyu Group, which also includes Odakyu Department Stores and Odakyu Hotels among other business areas in Tokyo, Japan.

"We are very pleased with the new agreement, as we believe that the JCB card can offer Odakyu's superior customer base in Japan the kind of premium service other international brands cannot," commented Naotaka Sato, General Manager of Brand Relations Promotion Department at JCB. "For us, this also represents an opportunity to make progress in bringing more of our technological advantages to the market, because the Odakyu Group is looking ahead to combining public transport fare payment with credit on a smart card", he added.

OER is one of 23 public transport companies participating in Passnet, which currently uses a pre-paid card system for fare payment throughout the metropolitan Tokyo area. The association is planning to change to a smart card Passnet in 2006, and JCB expects to play an active role in its implementation.

Yasuyuki Tamura, Executive Managing Director of OCC and Manager of CRM Division at OER, notes, "Having JCB provide card services is an important part of our overall CRM strategy. The Odakyu Group is composed of 114 different organizations in a wide range of businesses, from department stores to transport, to hotels and resorts. We are pleased to be able to offer our customers JCB's high quality services, and we are looking forward to working with JCB on challenging future developments such as the smart card railway card."

JCB will be providing issuing services for the Odakyu Point JCB Card and the Odakyu Point Credit Card, house card for the Odakyu Group, covering application screening, card issuing, transaction authorization, customer billing, point services, customer call center support services and credit management. OCC will continue to perform its own cardmember recruitment. The 300,000 Odakyu Department Store cardholders have already been introduced to the new Odakyu JCB Card, and new member recruitment began March 1 2004. The cards are issued from April.

About Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd.
Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd. makes up a part of the railway network for the Tokyo metropolitan area- the center of politics, economics and culture in Japan. With 1.83 million passengers each day, the Company is also engaged in a variety of other businesses including commercial building leasing, development of prime residential housing area development and operation of leisure facilities. The Odakyu Group, with Odakyu Electric Railway at its core, is involved in a wide variety of fields including railways and bus lines, department stores and other retail services including credit card services, as well as distribution services, real estate development and leasing and the hotel business. Among the regions surrounding Tokyo, the areas along the Odakyu railway lines are popular and lend themselves to a comfortable lifestyle. Because of the high income level of people living in these areas, it is possible to create a rich and fertile space in terms of development planning. Focusing on the areas along its railway lines, all the companies in the Odakyu Group provides a variety of services that create rich and comfortable lifestyles for people.

About JCB Co., Ltd.
JCB is an international credit card brand and the largest card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding overseas in 1981. Its merchant network includes 11.4 million merchants and spans 189 countries and territories. JCB cards are now issued in 18 countries and territories, with 49.6 million cardmembers. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with more than 320 leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase merchant coverage and cardmember base. JCB's corporate philosophy of "Service from the heart", a commitment to responsive, high-quality service, continues to guide it as it creates the future together with its customers, merchants and partners. For further information, please visit the JCB Co. Ltd. home page at: www.jcb-global.com/english or www.jcbinternational.com.