The Tokyo credit card company JCB Co. Ltd. said Wednesday that has signed up a pair of customers in Thailand: one that will issue its cards and one that will provide merchant acquiring services.
KasikornBank Public Co. Ltd. said it will begin providing acceptance and cash advance services to JCB's merchant customers in Thailand this month. Initially it will focus on airlines and travel agencies that do business online, though it plans to start servicing retail merchants in July. By 2010 it expects to have 16,000 merchant customers accepting JCB cards.
KasikornBank will become one of JCB's five merchant acquiring banks in Thailand.
Krungthai Card Public Co. Ltd. said it began issuing JCB-branded cards this month.
The KTC JCB Kakkoii card is named for the Japanese word meaning "cool, smart, and stylish," the companies said, and Krungthai, a unit of Krung Thai Bank Public Co. Ltd., has targeted Thai consumers who are fans of Japanese culture.
