JCB international has signed an agreement with China Merchants Bank (CMB) for issuing JCB brand cards in China. CMB began offering JCB CMB Hello Kitty Fan’s Credit Card on March 1, with designs featuring ‘Hello Kitty’ and ‘Dear Daniel’ licensed by Sanrio Int’l Trade Co., Ltd.

The agreement with CMB, the largest credit card issuer with more than 10 million cards in China, is JCB’s fourth card issuing alliance in China. It will accelerate further expansion of JCB as a global credit card brand in the Chinese payment market.

JCB have been expanding the acceptance network in China in cooperation with major local banks and financial institutions since 1982. In the past the purpose of expanding the JCB brand network in China was mainly to enhance acceptance for JCB card members traveling from Japan and other Asian countries. In recent years JCB has been forming a number of new issuing partnerships to meet the diverse needs of Chinese consumers. In December 2006 Bank of China launched a co-branded JCB card with a major household appliance retail chain in China, and in February 2007 China Everbright Bank began offering co-branded JCB cards tied to a major fashion magazine publisher in the region. ( JCB )

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