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JCB International and Vital
Processing Services
Team Up to Introduce JCB Smart Card Capability in United States
November, 2002
Tokyo, November 7, 2002 - JCB International Co., Ltd announced
its US subsidiary, JCB International Credit Card Co., Ltd. based
in Los Angeles, has teamed up with Vital Processing Services®
(Vital®), a recognized leader in technology-based commerce enabling
services in the US market to promote smart card usage in the United
States.
JCB International also announced that on October 29, 2002, it completed
its first live end-to-end smart card transaction with VITAL. As
a result of this successful achievement, in early 2003, JCB and
Vital will partner with Honolulu-based First Hawaiian Bank, a subsidiary
of BancWest Corporation to launch a JCB smart card pilot project
in Hawaii.
JCB is the fourth largest credit card brand in the world with over
42 million card members. JCB Cards are accepted at nearly 10 million
merchants in 189 countries/territories including more than one million
in North and South America. JCB has a strong presence in the Asia
& Pacific region and is committed to further increasing its
presence in the United States. Vital has long served as a processor
of JCB credit card transactions and is now expanding its services
to include processing of JCB smart card transactions.
"Our expanded relationship with JCB shows Vital's commitment
to be a leader in processing all payment forms and all payment brands,
" said Vital President and CEO, Jonathan Palmer. "The
smart card market has been slow to develop in the U.S., but it is
making its leap across the Pacific. We are pleased to be able to
support JCB as they pave the way for smart card acceptance in the
U.S."
The launch of the JCB smart card pilot in Hawaii will use smart
card terminals manufactured by Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC),
the global leader in smart, fast and easy-to-use card payment technology.
Atsushi Niimura, President of JCB International Co., Ltd., said,
"We are very much excited about this opportunity to work with
Vital, First Hawaiian Bank and Hypercom. Although the U.S. market
is rather slow in its smart card migration, we are proud that we
can show our readiness for the chip deployment, and we welcome any
opportunity to further increase JCB's presence in the market."
About JCB
JCB is an international credit card brand and the largest card issuer/acquirer
in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began
expanding overseas in 1981. Its merchant network includes 9.28 million
merchants and spans 189 countries and territories. JCB cards are
now issued in 18 countries and territories, with 42 million cardmembers.
As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances
with more than 320 leading banks and financial institutions globally
to increase merchant coverage and cardmember base. JCB's corporate
philosophy of "Service from the heart", a commitment to
responsive, high-quality service, continues to guide it as it creates
the future together with its customers, merchants and partners.
For further information, please visit the JCB International homepage
at http://www.jcbinternational.com.
About First Hawaiian Bank
First Hawaiian Bank (www.fhb.com),
founded in 1858, is Hawaii's oldest financial institution. The bank
is headquartered in Honolulu and has 56 branches throughout Hawaii,
three in Guam and two in Saipan. First Hawaiian is one of the main
subsidiaries of Honolulu-based BancWest Corporation (www.bancwestcorp.com),
the 25th largest U.S. bank holding company with assets of $34.3
billion and operations in seven Western states. BancWest is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Paris-based BNP Paribas.
About Hypercom
Hypercom Corporation is the leading global provider of electronic
payment solutions that add value at the point-of-sale for consumers,
merchants and acquirers, and yield increased profitability for its
customers. Hypercom's products include secure web-enabled information
and transaction terminals that work seamlessly with its networking
equipment and software applications for e-commerce, m-commerce,
smart cards and traditional payment applications. Hypercom's widely-accepted
ePOS-infocommerce® (epic) framework of consumer-activated,
EMV-certified, touch-screen ICE (Interactive Consumer Environment)
information and transaction terminals enable acquirers and merchants
to decrease costs, increase revenues and improve customer retention.
Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Hypercom maintains an installed
base of more than 5 million terminals in over 100 countries, which
conduct over 10 billion transactions annually. Hypercom's web site
is www.hypercom.com.
About Vital Processing Services
A leader in technology-based commerce enabling services, Vital Processing
Services® (Vital®) is the commerce connection between acquirers
and merchants, processing one out of every four authorized payment
transactions in North America. From authorizing and capturing electronic
payments at the merchant point of sale, to clearing and settling
transactions, Vital provides highly reliable, integrated end-to-end
processing services to more than 300 acquirers and over one million
merchants. Vital processes all payment types for merchants of all
sizes from a wide array of industries and provides merchants and
acquirers with the information and tools to efficiently manage their
payment processing businesses. Vital is a merchant processing joint
venture of Visa U.S.A. and TSYS® ("NYSE: TSS"). Additional
information regarding Vital can be found at www.vitalps.com.
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