HSBC expands Visa debit cards in Asia-Pacific, Middle East
October 30, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — Visa Inc. and HSBC have expanded their global relationship to include new debit card programs in countries and territories throughout Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
According to a news release, the five-year regional agreements represent an expansion of HSBC's existing credit-card issuing relationship with Visa and are the latest milestones in Visa's efforts to combine its global brand and payments expertise with strong local marketplace knowledge and execution to help clients grow their business.
"This deal expands the relationship between two global leaders — HSBC and Visa — in some of the fastest-growing areas in the world," said Hans Morris, president of Visa Inc. "We are delighted by HSBC's decision to enhance our partnership and extend Visa's debit products to new and existing customers across multiple geographies. Importantly, this agreement delivers on our strategy to expand Visa's global debit product offerings as we seek to further the migration from cash and check to Visa payments."
Under terms of the agreement for Asia Pacific, Visa will become HSBC's exclusive partner for new consumer debit products, with HSBC issuing more than 10 million Visa debit cards in Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
HSBC Visa payWave launches in the Middle East
HSBC Middle East Ltd. will begin issuing Visa-branded debit cards by early 2009 in eight countries in the Middle East, including United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Pakistan. Some of the 1 million new cards also will be Visa payWave-enabled, allowing cardholders to make contactless payments at the point of sale. The Visa payWave-enabled debit cards will also support services such as loyalty programs for cardholders.
