JCB Extends Apple Pay Support Beyond Japan

“The move comes soon after JCB enabled Google Pay in its home country, reflecting the company’s growing interest in novel payment technologies.”

Japanese credit card company JCB is now supporting Apple Pay in Taiwan, the company has announced. JCB’s support in Taiwan comes in partnership with E.SUN Bank and Union Bank of Taiwan, with Taiwan being the first market beyond Japan in which JCB has delivered Apple Pay support.

The move comes soon after JCB enabled Google Pay in its home country, reflecting the company’s growing interest in novel payment technologies. On the same theme, JCB also recently embarked on a pilot of biometric credit card technology, an emerging payment card system that is in some respects the card-based version of Apple Pay, which also facilitates biometric authorization for contactless payments.

In a statement announcing JCB’s expansion of Apple Pay support, Executive Vice President Daisuke Sakurai emphasized the readiness of Taiwan’s market in terms of NFC support, which is needed for contactless transactions on Apple’s payments platform. “The Taiwan payment market is one of the most advanced in terms of contactless payment, with many merchants equipped with contactless payment readers,” the executive said.

Of course, Apple Pay has been available in Taiwan for over a year now through the support of other financial services partners including Mastercard, Visa, and several domestic banks. But JCB’s support could help Apple Pay to get a little more market share in the region.