JCB participates in the joint smart card loyalty point program called Plet's, which is managed by JCB's affiliated company Japan Point Annex Co., Ltd. (JPA) and was launched in December 2001. Many credit card companies and merchants participate in the Plet's point program. This allows cardmembers to exchange their points for premiums or merchant discounts from other Plet's members. JPA expects to see 20 million smart credit/debit cards with the Plet's application out in the market and 45 thousand member merchants by 2005.