Banco Santander (Santander), the major international financial group, has launched JCB merchant acquiring operations in Spain following a license agreement with JCB International (JCBI), the international operations subsidiary of JCB, the Japanese global payment brand. Thanks to this new alliance, Santander facilitates JCB acceptance at Santander-acquired merchants throughout Spain.

JCB’s 130 million cardmembers now have the opportunity to enjoy goods and services from Santander’s extensive merchant network in Spain, including hotels, restaurants and luxury retailers. Santander merchant partners will benefit from the opportunity to capture card sales from JCB’s predominantly Asian cardmember base.

Santander facilitation of JCB card acceptance significantly increases JCB brand coverage in Spain, providing greater convenience and augmented services to JCB cardmembers globally.

Mr. Yoshiki Kaneko, Deputy President, JCB International Ltd., said, “This partnership with Spain’s largest bank is a significant milestone in JCB’s mission to increase our acceptance footprint across Europe. JCB cardmembers can now enjoy shopping with a greater number of merchants in Spain, both online and at point of sale.  With average transaction value in Spain on the rise for JCB cardmembers, we anticipate this partnership to facilitate growth for Spanish merchants, particularly in the luxury goods category.”

Rubén Justel, Managing Director at Santander España Merchant Services, said, “JCB’s growing cardmember base and prominence in the tiger markets will be of great benefit to our merchant network in Spain as we welcome greater JCB acceptance. As the world becomes a smaller place and tourism figures increase, we’ve noticed that our merchants benefit from catering to international consumers and that includes variety of payment methods. As the gateway to Asia, facilitating JCB acceptance was the next logical step in this progression.”