JCB sees contactless growth among cardmembers and retail partners, as economic uncertainty accelerates mobile payments

JCB Contactless usage among cardmembers grew more than 30% YOY in July 20201

London Tokyo -

Highlights:

o Data shows a more than 30% year-on-year increase in JCB Contactless usage by global cardmembers in July 2020. Additionally, there has been a continued growth in JCB Contactless enabled partners globally over the past three years, with an increase in uptake of 83% for 2018 on 2017; then 69% for 2019 on 2018. A further projected increase of 25% is expected by the end of 20202.

o Cardmember behaviour throughout the course of 2019 and 2020 also illustrated the rising growth of ecommerce. Spending at the top 50 online retailers outside of Japan increased by 15% year-on-year for February 2020 and ecommerce spending peaks occurred in January, July and December in 2019 outside of Japan3.

o JCB has seen a 37% increase in annual sales volume over the past four years4.

Continued:

JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., today reveals substantial growth of JCB Contactless usage by cardmembers and adoption by retail partners.

The findings are part of an exclusive new whitepaper issued by JCB International Co., Ltd." titled ‘Payment Perspectives and Future-Gazing’, out today. The whitepaper includes insights from JCB business leaders evaluating some of the challenges and opportunities presented to stakeholders in the payments sector as well as the heightened expectations of customers as a result of the changing times.

Tsuyoshi Notani, Managing Director, JCB International (Europe) Ltd. comments:

“With the pace of change being forced by recent events, there is an even greater opportunity to accelerate the evolution of payments. This means adopting a growth mindset and not retrenching to ‘the old’ normal. The payment industry is fulfilling an increasingly more important role in the economic recovery phases, and as such, it is essential to find ways to diversify the way in which we meet customer needs alongside our partners.”

“There are now many options for people to pay for goods and services and preferences vary region to region and country to country. There is a marvellous opportunity for businesses to innovate and create engaging shopping experiences, but it does mean payment networks need to keep one step ahead by utilising market intelligence and providing fresh solutions to meet customer needs.”

“We are well-placed to help solve the challenges ahead as an established voice in the global payment ecosystem. Long ago we recognised the importance of creating a smooth and secure transactional journey for customers. We began our international expansion in 1981 and, in 1991 we launched the J/Smart™ EMV(R) compliant chip card application for issuing partners, and in 2001 J/Smart™ card issuance commenced. There have been many milestones since.

“As the payments gateway for Asian customers, we will continue to collaborate with our partners in Europe and internationally to build confidence and to find cutting-edge payment solutions for our 140M+ cardmembers worldwide. JCB cards are now issued in 24 countries and territories.”