Prime Bank to Start Accepting JCB Cards in Bangladesh

Dhaka and Tokyo, Apr 18, 2013 – (ACN Newswire) – Prime Bank Limited (Prime Bank), a major commercial bank in Bangladesh starts JCB merchant acquiring operations in Bangladesh based on a license agreement with JCB International Co., Ltd. (JCBI), the international subsidiary of JCB, the only global payment brand based in Japan. Prime Bank’s merchants are to gradually start accepting JCB cards from April 18.

Prime Bank is one of the major players in merchant acquiring market in Bangladesh and it has strong merchant network especially in the travel and entertainment industries, such as hotels and restaurants.

Prior to this arrangement, JCB cards were accepted at limited locations in Bangladesh. The partnership with Prime Bank will significantly increase the number of JCB merchants, which will improve the card acceptance situation for JCB cardmembers visiting the country.

Mr. Hiroshi Terada, EVP, Head of Sales and Marketing Asia Pacific said, “the market of Bangladesh is very important for JCB because more and more international corporations from Japan, China and Korea, where JCBI has strong cardmember base, are entering into the market, as the economy of the country has been recording high growth in recent years. Also, we are aggressively aiming to expand its business in the South Asian region and we are expecting that an increasing number of JCB cardmembers in the region to visit Bangladesh, which makes the acquiring business in the country very important for JCBI.”

Furthermore, together with the economic growth, the huge population base in Bangladesh gives a promising potential to the card issuing business in the country. Prime Bank and JCBI are now preparing to launch JCB card issuance which is scheduled to start in the late 2013.

About Prime Bank Limited

Prime Bank Limited is one of the major commercial banks in Bangladesh whose headquarter is located at 119-120, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000. Since inception in 1995, the bank has been constantly focusing on understanding the anticipation of customer needs in the financial and banking sectors. The bank has more than 100 branches nationwide and covers wide fields of financial and banking business.
About JCB

JCB is a major global payment brand and a leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981. Its acceptance network includes over 23 million merchants and over a million cash advance locations in 190 countries and territories. JCB cards are now issued in 16 countries and territories, with more than 79 million cardmembers. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with more than 350 leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase merchant coverage and cardmember base. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to providing responsive and high-quality service and products to all customers worldwide. For more information, visit:www.jcbcorporate.com/english .

Contact:

JCB International Co., Ltd.
Ayako Tanaka, Junko Asaoka
Corporate Planning Department
+81-3-5778-8390
ayako.tanaka@jcb.co.jp, junko.asaoka@jcb.co.jp