JCB International Co Ltd, one of the world's top five credit card brands, is seeking cooperation with more local banks to issue credit cards carrying the JCB logo in China.

"We are in talks with several commercial banks including both national banks and city commercial banks," said Toshifumi Ooka, chief representative of JCB International's Beijing office.

"We hope we will have three to four new local partners by the end of this year," he said, without naming them.

JCB has issued several co-branded credit cards in the first three months of this year with China Merchants Bank (CMB), China Everbright Bank and Pudong Development Bank.

It previously cooperated with Bank of China and Bank of Shanghai to release the first JCB-branded card in China in April 2005.

"China is one of the priorities for our overseas business development," Ooka said.

Established in 1961, the Japanese credit card company began expanding its overseas business in 1981, with the first stop Hong Kong.

It now has a presence in 190 countries and regions around the world and had issued 59.05 million cards globally by the end of 2006.

Ooka is confident about JCB's future in China. He said that in March alone, more than 300,000 JCB-CMB co-branded cards were issued.

Compared to its bigger rivals like Visa and MasterCard, JCB's advantages lie in its service networks and experience in card issuing.

The company has 46 VIP service centers in major cities around the globe, including Beijing and Shanghai.

In addition, JCB began issuing cards in Japan and still has a business there that enables cooperation with partners.

While JCB is seeking more partners to issue cards, it also plans to strengthen cooperation with local partners.

The company entered China in 1982 and has signed payment agreements with 10 banking institutions including the Big Four and China UnionPay.

(China Daily April 13, 2007)