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JCB chooses Visa for contactless payments in Asia

February 25, 2007

SINGAPORE - Visa and JCB have signed a deal to share Visa Asia Pacific's contactless specification, which is soon expected to open acceptance of JCB's J/Speedy contactless cards at merchant locations outside of Japan.

According to a news release, merchants can use the same terminal to accept contactless payments for both brands, thereby increasing the network of acceptance points for Visa and JCB contactless cards.

Visa's specifications, based on EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) principles, were designed to support any contactless payment product.

"JCB's adoption of Visa's contactless specification moves the whole payment industry closer to a single, interoperable platform that works for all brands," said Rahul Khosla, general manager of products for Visa Asia Pacific. "As a result of this agreement, merchants accepting Visa and JCB contactless cards will soon be able to minimize their investment in terminals. Vendors will be able to lower their production costs, speed up time to market, and thus accelerate the pace at which the industry can implement interoperable contactless payment programs. Ultimately, consumers and merchants will benefit from faster and more convenient payment."

Contactless payments are made using radio frequency-equipped smart cards. The close range and EMV-based security technology used in Visa contactless-card payments ensures transactions are secure, the company says. Additional security features also are built into POS terminals that accept contactless cards.

"The agreement will provide new opportunities for the two payment systems to expand contactless-merchant acceptance further and to increase the number of outlets where cardholders can use both Visa and JCB contactless cards," said Tac Watanabe, JCB's senior vice president of global infrastructure and technologies. "We strongly believe that this arrangement will also lead to a more cost-effective and easier implementation of contactless payments for our issuers and acquirers."