JCB Co., Ltd.

The Tokyo-based JCB Co., Ltd., originally known as the Japan Credit Bureau, is a credit card provider. Payments may be made using this method at JCB merchant locations, as well as at merchants that take Discover Network, UnionPay, American Express, and RuPay.

JCB was created in the Japanese credit card industry in 1968 when it bought Osaka Credit Bureau, which was founded in 1961. The company plans to distribute 130 million cards in 23 countries by 2020. Customers with Platinum Cards issued outside of Japan may also use JCB's membership airport lounge network.

J.C.B.'s international expansion began in 1981. For the most part, financial institutions linked with JCB are licenced by the company to issue cards with the JCB name. International activities are handled by JCB International Credit Card Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary.

Credit card networks including Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express are all accepted in the United States. However, JCB's announcement of an agreement with Discover Network on August 23, 2006 broadened the brand's popularity beyond its original target market of travel-related businesses including airlines, car rental agencies, hotels, Japanese specialty merchants, and a few department stores. Discover and JCB have announced a long-term agreement that allows JCB cards to be accepted at Discover terminals in Japan and Discover cards to be accepted on the Discover network in the United States. In 2011, this cooperation was put into action.

Accounts issued by JCB USA for citizens of California, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii were made available to JCB customers. As of January 8th, 2018, JCB USA has ceased issuing JCB cards in the United States and cancelled all existing consumer credit card accounts on April 30th, 2018. The Discover network continues to accept foreign JCB cards.