Since its establishment in 1961, the company has been a pioneer in introducing credit cards as a new payment method in Japan. The company has since expanded internationally, and as the only company in Japan to operate an international card brand, it has developed a variety of businesses on the global stage. In addition to developing a network of merchants that accept JCB cards around the world, the company is expanding the issuance of JCB cards with partners in Japan and overseas. Currently, JCB cards are used by more than 140 million members, mainly in the Asian region.
JCB sees ASEAN as a strategic demand market
ASEAN itself is a high-potential market with a growing population and economy. In terms of payment, the number of people with bank accounts and credit cards is still small, and there is room for growth as a business opportunity. The people of ASEAN have a positive view of Japan and believe that JCB, as a Japanese company, can provide value.
Established the ASEAN Business Enhancement and Creation Department in Singapore to create new businesses.
It was created in June 2021 under the umbrella of a ASEAN Business Enhancement and Creation Department.
An independent organization with two employees from Japan.
Background of the new organization
Up until now, JCB has been using the Japanese brand to grow both members and merchants, but they feel that there is a limit to what they can do with existing business alone, and they need to launch new businesses based on our other strengths.
For example, collaboration with external partners and investment in startups are possible, but it is difficult to have an existing organization work on this area as a new mission, so JCB created this new department to allow them to move freely and think with new ideas.
Invested in SoftSpace, a Malaysian fintech company, as one of the new businesses in ASEAN, and started working on it.
Invested approximately US$5 million in SoftSpace, a Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based fintech company that provides Tap on Mobile device, and granted the company a license to issue JCB cards and acquire merchants in Malaysia.
As a short-term action, the tap-on mobile device provided by SoftSpace can be used to link with JCB's existing credit card business.
As a medium- to long-term action, JCB believes that they can provide new value and solutions to JCB's customers, such as banks and cardholders, by combining SoftSpace's technology with JCB's business in the future. In particular, while the rate of bank account ownership and credit card penetration is low in ASEAN, the rate of smartphone penetration is high, so they believe that they can use technology to provide new solutions such as smartphone-based marketing solutions.
In the future, they would like to utilize SoftSpace's solutions to provide benefits to JCB's existing customers and expand JCB's business.
Moreover, SoftSpace will be able to expand its market share by collaborating with JCB, so the two companies will be able to create a win-win relationship.
Significance to the ASEAN Market through SoftSpace's Initiatives
In the short term, they would like to expand their market share in Malaysia, but next they would like to expand their business in other countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand.
They would like to promote marketing activities across ASEAN by combining SoftSpace's fintech technology and JCB's network.
In countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, and Philippines, where cash is still the main source of payment, JCB hopes to contribute to a cashless society by working with SoftSpace to make payment activities more convenient for consumers.
They would like to increase JCB's presence in ASEAN based on the social significance of promoting cashless transactions in ASEAN.
For the future
JCB is still in the position of a challenger in the ASEAN market, and they would like to continue to implement the PDCA cycle of making various hypotheses, trying them out, and verifying them.
In this sense, in addition to deepening our efforts with SoftSpace, JCB would also like to focus on partnerships with other companies and startups.
JCB will expand its current credit card business through collaboration with external parties, while simultaneously pursuing strategies to create new businesses in the medium to long term.
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Line: @JCBThailand