Credit Card Bureau

JCB what? Japanese Credit Bureau Guide

In many parts of the globe (especially in Asia) JCB, the Japan Credit Bureau, is equivalent to card transactions. The JCB was established in Tokyo in 1961, the same year as its major rival, the Osaka Credit Bureau. JCB introduced the first credit card in Japan two years later ( two years after BankAmericard, the first advanced credit card to be introduced in the USA), and within seven years JCB had purchased the Osaka Credit Bureau to become the leading Japan credit card processing company.

JCB's JCB business expanded with the introduction of the first Japan rewards credit card coupled with the fast pace of economic development in Japan after the end of the Great Depression. Since the newly discovered richness of the Japan mid tier created a wish for worldwide travelling, JCB (as opposed to local rivals who had entered into alliance agreements with US payments processors) began to build relationships with dealers internationally, enabling current card holders to use their card abroad.

JCB started in Hong Kong in 1981 and in the same year concentrated on the tourist attractions favoured by Japan. In addition to its commercial relations, JCB also entered into licensing arrangements with a number of foreign banking institutions, and in 1984 the first JCB card outside Japan was introduced in Hong Kong.

JCB set up its own London (Europe) and Los Angeles (USA) office from the middle to the end of the 1980s and in 1989 set up a map with its first US banking partners. JCB tickets were subsequently distributed in Australia, Germany, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom. JCB card issuance has grown to over 20 destinations and can be used for payments in nearly 200 of them.

A large part of the increase in JCB's take-up was the outcome of an agreement they reached with Discover in the mid-2000s, which allowed mutual use of card wherever one or the other mark was taken up in 2011. What UK credit card companies have JCB card offers? Unfortunately, no British card publishers currently sell JCB trademark tickets.

But if you want a JCB card, there are certain choices (albeit uncomfortable ones). Thus, for example, some Asiatic financial institutions (e.g. UOB, Singapore) allow non-residents to request their JCB-card. In order to be considered, claimants must reach the necessary retirement and annuity threshold (currently 21 years old and with an UOB card annuity in excess of US$40,000), must make an annuity payment and must furnish the necessary time deposits.

May I use a JCB credit card in the UK? Most UK on-line traders also accepted JCB payments via Adyen. Elavon, SagePay, Wirecard and Worldpay and dealers using portable payments technologies (such as cosmeticians, builders, barbers, etc.) via iZettle.