JCB Contactless Flourishes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland with thousands of Concardis merchants welcoming JCB Contactless spend

JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., has expanded its existing partnership with Concardis, as part of the Nets / Nexi Group one of Europe’s leading paytech providers, to enable JCB Contactless acceptance at several thousands of merchants in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Concardis and the entire Nets / Nexi Group together with JCB share a common goal – to make payments simple.

Rollout has already begun with merchants with Concardis terminals in the travel and entertainment sectors such as hotels, shopping, and popular restaurants. This acceptance includes JCB Contactless.

JCB Contactless enables JCB Cardmembers to perform secure and fast contactless payments, simply by holding their JCB Card or JCB-Card-enabled smartphone or other devices over a point of sale (POS) terminal. JCB Contactless is based on the global chip standard ‘EMV(R),’ offering a higher level of security.

The JCB logo is widely recognised, so when displayed at point-of-sale, brands can differentiate themselves from competitors by offering JCB Cardmembers the option to transact with their payment network of choice, encouraging brand loyalty and repeat custom. JCB is accepted in 150 countries and regions globally, with about 39 million merchant partners, and more than 140 million international Cardmembers, many of whom enjoy spending in bricks and mortar establishments across Europe.

Ray Shinzawa, Managing Director, JCB International (Europe) Ltd., comments; “Many of our Cardmembers are avid travelers who would like to maintain the ease of spending they have at home whilst abroad. We have an established partnership with the esteemed Concardis that we are excited to continue. Our expanded collaboration will empower our partners and merchants to offer better, more secure experiences to our loyal Cardmembers.”

Robert Hoffmann, CEO Concardis and Nets Merchant Services, adds; “Our merchants across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland are looking forward to the return of international travel and welcoming back tourists. Of particular interest are, for example, those from Asia who enjoy travelling throughout Europe. This expanded partnership with JCB will provide our valued merchants with an even more seamless way to accommodate JCB’s over 140 million Cardmembers. We expect that this promising venture will continue to contribute to the growth and development of our respective services, providing a better and further reaching offer for existing and future JCB Cardmembers.”

Note: JCB Contactless is based on global chip standard ‘EMV(R),’ offering a high level of security. EMV(R) is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries and an unregistered trademark elsewhere. The EMV trademark is owned by EMVCo.

About JCB

JCB is a major global payment brand and a leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981. Its acceptance network includes about 39 million merchants around the world. JCB issues cards across various countries and regions internationally with more than 140 million cardmembers. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with hundreds of leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase its merchant coverage and cardmember base. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to providing responsive and high-quality service and products to all customers worldwide. For more information: www.global.jcb/en/

About Concardis

Concardis is a leading provider of digital payment solutions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As part of Europe’s leading PayTech provider Nets / Nexi Group we have the size, capacity and geographic reach to drive forward the transition to a cashless Europe. Our goal is to help people and businesses of all sizes in transforming the way people make their payments and how businesses accept these payments. By simplifying payments and providing the most innovative and reliable solutions we enable enterprises and financial institutions to provide their customers with a better service, build closer relationships and grow together. More information on the companies is available on the following websites: www.concardis.com, www.nets.eu or www.nexigroup.com

Contacts:
JCB International/Europe
Contact: India Stone
Email: istone@jcbeurope.eu
Phone: +44 020 7087 4754

JCB (Head Office in Japan)
Contact: Ayaka Nakajima
Email: jcb-pr@jcb.co.jp
Phone: +81 3 5778 8353






Topic: Press release summary

Enablement of JCB Contactless payment acceptance at all OMNY contactless subway and bus validator screens in New York

JCB International Credit Card Co., Ltd. (JCBUSA), the US subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., Japan’s only international payment brand, and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NY MTA), the largest public transit authority in North America, are pleased to announce the enablement of JCB Contactless payment acceptance at all OMNY (One Metro New York) contactless subway and bus validator screens.
NY MTA is one of the largest transportation systems in the world and a vital infrastructure not only for locals, but also for travelers. JCB has been one of NY MTA’s long-time fare payment options and now enabling contactless payments gives JCB cardmembers the convenience of tapping their cards wherever OMNY, NY MTA’s contactless fare payment system, is available.

Sarah Meyer, Chief Customer Officer of NY MTA, commented, “We look forward to working closely with JCB. Huge numbers of visitors from Asia will be able to experience the seamlessness of OMNY when they are visiting New York City. We are excited about being a conduit to contactless users from around the world.”

Ray Shinzawa, President & COO at JCBUSA, said, “We are pleased that our JCB cardmembers can now enjoy the added convenience of tapping their cards or smartphones on NY MTA subway and bus validator screens. We respect and appreciate NY MTA’s NFC adoption of JCB, a prominent payment brand from Asia. JCB has been leading the NFC interface since 2000’s with Felica in Japan. JCB’s NFC acceptance is growing rapidly, and JCB is committed to broaden the NFC network to enhance convenience and security in transportation around the world.”

About MTA

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is North America’s largest transportation network, serving a population of 15.3 million people across a 5,000-square-mile travel area surrounding New York City through Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut.

The MTA network comprises the nation’s largest bus fleet and more subway and commuter rail cars than all other U.S. transit systems combined. The MTA’s operating agencies are MTA New York City Transit, MTA Bus, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, MTA Bridges and Tunnels, and MTA Construction & Development.

About JCB

JCB is a major global payment brand and a leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981. Its acceptance network includes about 36 million merchants around the world. JCB Cards are issued mainly in Asian countries and territories, with more than 140 million cardmembers. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with hundreds of leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase its merchant coverage and cardmember base. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to providing responsive and high-quality service and products to all customers worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.global.jcb/en/

Contacts
JCB (Head Office in Japan)
Ayaka Nakajima
Corporate Communications
Tel: +81-3-5778-8353
Email: jcb-pr@jcb.co.jp

JCBUSA
Mikaho Hara
Marketing Manager
Tel: +1-213-896-3788
Email: mikaho.hara@jcbusa.com


Topic: Press release summary

Max Life Enhances Contactless Services for Customers, Redefines its After Sales Experience

Max Life Insurance Company Ltd. (“Max Life”/“Company”), has strengthened its commitment to customers by introducing digital servicing initiatives that has helped bring greater agility, innovation and customer delight amidst the pandemic.

In the last six months, Max Life has introduced a range of digital initiatives that are completely contactless and paperless, across most of its channels including the company’s branch offices. The company has overhauled majority of the physical servicing touchpoints to digital and enabled more options of self-serve on its website.

The company also built an OTP authentication workflow which has eliminated need for physical servicing forms in many work steams. Max Life had also recently introduced WhatsApp for customer servicing, where they integrated their AI based chatbot ‘Mili’, to serve customers round the clock. This year, till date, more than 40 lakh service queries have been handled on digital platforms.

The success of this journey has ensured customer delight, with a substantial increase in the company’s customer service net promoter scores (NPS score) by 42% from last year. The initiatives have also helped Max Life offer faster turnaround, efficiency, and agility to everyday operations, and offer safer solutions to its customer amidst the pandemic. The company has also been able to significantly decrease the turn-around time in servicing performance by up to 50% from last year.

Manu Lavanya, Chief Operations Officer, Max Life said, “Max Life has many firsts to its credit when it comes to offering and creating differentiated experience for its customer. In our endeavour to offer the best-in-class services and a seamless experience to our customers, we have committed ourselves to journey of digitization of most of our business processes. One such initiative is our paperless and contactless servicing journey, that is designed to reduce errors, while improving loyalty and customer experience significantly.”

He further added, “By achieving digital agility, Max Life has been able to digitalize all communication processes and give an alternate channel of service to our customers, especially in these times when we want our customers to get served wherever they are.”

Max Life has also digitized claims management to ensure that all support documents are accepted online, and customers are able to submit claims in a timely manner, using self-service options – website, digital bots, and AI-driven Interactive Voice Response.

About Max Life Insurance (www.maxlifeinsurance.com) 

Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (“Max Life”) is a joint venture between Max Financial Services Ltd. and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. Max Financial Services Ltd. is a part of the Max group, an Indian multi business corporation, while Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance is a member of MS&AD Insurance group.

Max Life offers comprehensive protection and long-term savings life insurance solutions, through its multichannel distribution including agency and third distribution partners. Max Life has built its operations over almost two decades through need-based sales process, a customer-centric approach to engagement and service delivery and trained human capital.

As per public disclosures, during the financial year 2019-20, Max Life achieved gross written premium of Rs. 16,184 crore. As on 31st March 2020, the Company had Rs. 68,471 crore of assets under management (AUM) and a Sum Assured in Force of Rs. 913,660 crore.

For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.maxlifeinsurance.com.