Tokyo, Japan, October 22, 2004 - JCB, a leading international payment brand, held its 9th World Conference on October 18 to 20 at the Westin Miyako Hotel in Kyoto, Japan. The conference was attended by 469 representatives from 261 JCB partner companies in 47 countries and territories around the world. The theme of the conference was "Next-generation solutions offered by JCB as global partner".

Presentations were made by top JCB management and regional speakers from JCB partners Bank of China Limited, the Philippine's Equitable CardNetwork, Inc., Germany's B+S Card Service, GmbH, Global Payments, Inc. from the U.S. and Japan's Toyota Financial Services. Featured guest speakers included Taichi Sakaiya, author of The Knowledge Value Revolution and former State Minister for Economic Planning, as well as Masao Nakamura, President of NTT DoCoMo, Inc.
"We at JCB were proud to host the 9th World Conference as a way to form even closer ties with worldwide business partners, from Japan and abroad. It was a good opportunity to reaffirm JCB's goal of being a global brand leading into the 21st century", said Kunio Yoshizawa, President & COO at JCB International.
The conference opened with demonstrations of JCB's latest developments, highlighting contactless credit card payment solutions, such as those used in the e-METI JCB Business Card trial for employee purchases at METI canteens, and Mobile Offica and QUICPay™ contactless payment by mobile phone handsets. There was also a demonstration of JCB's contactless credit on MOPASS card, using mobile phone memory slot.

Participants each received a contact/contactless interface plastic credit card as well as a G-Shock watch equipped with RFID contactless credit, and had a chance to simulate contactless credit payment purchases at street stalls during a mock Japanese festival.

The 9th World Conference closed with a farewell party at the World Heritage Site Ninnaji Temple, founded in 888 AD. After welcoming remarks delivered by Rougi Sato, the 47TH head priest of the temple, the participants were entertained with a number of Kyoto's traditional performing arts including the Renjishi dance and taiko drumming.

JCB will continue to hold the JCB World Conference every two years in order to achieve a common understanding of the strategy and future direction of the JCB international brand with JCB acquirers, issuers, processors and other business partners across the globe and to give JCB partners a chance to share expertise and information on local markets.

Speakers (in order of delivered speeches):
Hiroya Nobuhara, President & CEO, JCB Co., Ltd. & and Chairman CEO, JCB International Co., Ltd.
Kunio Yoshizawa, Senior Managing Director, JCB Co., Ltd. and President & COO, JCB International Co., Ltd.
Taichi Sakaiya, author of The Knowledge Value Revolution and former State Minister for Economic Planning
Hua Quingshan, Managing Director and Executive Vice President, Bank of China Limited (China)
Paul R. Garcia, President and CEO, Global Payments, Inc. (USA)
Klaus Naumann, Managing Director, B+S Card Service, GmbH (Germany)
Hideto Ozaki, President and CEO, Toyota Financial Services Corporation (Japan)
Tony Conway, Office of the President, Equitable CardNetwork Inc. (the Philippines)
Masao Nakamura, President and CEO, NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (Japan)

JCB World Conferences:

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 11.7 million merchants and spans 190 countries and territories. JCB cards are now issued in 18 countries and territories, with 51.6 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 and 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.