Japan Credit Bureau, usually abbreviated as JCB, is a credit card company based in Tokyo, Japan. Its English name is JCB Co., Ltd. (株式会社ジェーシービー ,Kabushiki gaisha jē shī bī?). The abbreviation is sometimes thought to stand for Japan Commerce Bank, but this is incorrect.
Founded in 1961, JCB established dominance over the Japanese credit card market when it purchased Osaka Credit Bureau in 1968 and its cards are now issued in 20 different countries. Fifty-nine million JCB cardmembers worldwide use their cards to purchase over US$62.7 billion of goods and services annually in 190 countries worldwide.
JCB also operates a network of membership lounges targeting Japanese, Chinese, and Korean travelers in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Since 1981, JCB has been aggressively expanding its business overseas. Currently JCB cards are issued in 20 countries, most of which JCB is affiliated with financial institutions to license them to issue JCB-branded cards. All the international operation is conducted through its 100% subsidiary, JCB International Credit Card Co., Ltd.
In the United States, JCB is not as well known or as widely accepted as other credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard or American Express. Instead it is primarily accepted by tourism-related businesses such as airlines, car rental companies, and hotels. JCB is also increasingly accepted at businesses such as department stores, gas stations, and Japanese specialty retailers.
JCB accounts in the United States are issued by JCBUSA, but are currently only available to residents of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii
April 21, 2009
Discover Card
The Discover Card is a major credit card, issued primarily in the United States. It was originally introduced by Sears in 1985, and was part of Dean Witter, and then Morgan Stanley, until 2007, when Discover Financial Services became an independent company. Novus, a major processing center, used to be partners with the company as well. The Novus logo has since been retired and now the Discover Network logo has replaced it.
Most cards with the Discover brand are issued by Discover Bank. Discover Card transactions are processed through the Discover Network payment network. As of February 2006, the company announced that it would begin offering Discover Debit cards to banks, made possible by the Pulse payment system, which Discover acquired in 2005.
At the time the Discover Card was introduced, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States. It had purchased the Dean Witter Reynolds Organization (brokerage) and Coldwell, Banker & Company (real estate) in 1981, as an attempt to add financial services to its portfolio of customer services.
Together with the Discover Card (and its issuing bank, the Greenwood Trust Company, owned by Sears), this was named the Sears Financial Network. Early Discover Cards bore a small embossed symbol representing the Sears Tower, the company's headquarters at the time.
In October 2004, the Supreme Court upheld a ruling in Discover Card's favor that challenged exclusionary policies of Visa and MasterCard. Before this ruling, Visa and MasterCard would not allow banks to issue a Discover Card if they issued a Visa or MasterCard. Within days of the court ruling, Discover Card filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking damages from Visa and MasterCard. In 2005, Discover Card acquired PULSE, an electronic funds transfer association, allowing it to issue and market debit and ATM cards.
Shortly after the 2004 Supreme Court ruling, Discover also struck its first deal to have its card issued by another bank, GE Consumer Finance, which now issues three cards for retailer Wal-Mart and its wholesale warehouse stores, Sam's Club; transactions for both cards are processed on the Discover Network. Sam's Club exclusively accepted Discover Card for many years, although, since November 2006, it has also accepted MasterCard for purchases.
HSBC has also issued credit cards processed through the Discover Network, and branded with the Discover logo, since its acquisition of card issuer Metris in late 2005. Metris had originally signed an agreement with Discover in September 2005, only three months prior to the HSBC acquisition.
Morgan Stanley was long thought to want to sell the Discover Card business, and in April 2005, it announced that it would divest Discover Financial Services as an independent company within six months. However, by June industry sources reported that Morgan Stanley was reassessing its plan to spin off Discover.
Finally, in August 2005, the company confirmed it would not sell Discover. In yet another reversal, in December 2006, Morgan Stanley announced it would, again, spin off Discover as a standalone company by the end of August 2007. The spin-off was finalized ahead of schedule, on June 30, 2007.
Most cards with the Discover brand are issued by Discover Bank. Discover Card transactions are processed through the Discover Network payment network. As of February 2006, the company announced that it would begin offering Discover Debit cards to banks, made possible by the Pulse payment system, which Discover acquired in 2005.
At the time the Discover Card was introduced, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States. It had purchased the Dean Witter Reynolds Organization (brokerage) and Coldwell, Banker & Company (real estate) in 1981, as an attempt to add financial services to its portfolio of customer services.
Together with the Discover Card (and its issuing bank, the Greenwood Trust Company, owned by Sears), this was named the Sears Financial Network. Early Discover Cards bore a small embossed symbol representing the Sears Tower, the company's headquarters at the time.
In October 2004, the Supreme Court upheld a ruling in Discover Card's favor that challenged exclusionary policies of Visa and MasterCard. Before this ruling, Visa and MasterCard would not allow banks to issue a Discover Card if they issued a Visa or MasterCard. Within days of the court ruling, Discover Card filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking damages from Visa and MasterCard. In 2005, Discover Card acquired PULSE, an electronic funds transfer association, allowing it to issue and market debit and ATM cards.
Shortly after the 2004 Supreme Court ruling, Discover also struck its first deal to have its card issued by another bank, GE Consumer Finance, which now issues three cards for retailer Wal-Mart and its wholesale warehouse stores, Sam's Club; transactions for both cards are processed on the Discover Network. Sam's Club exclusively accepted Discover Card for many years, although, since November 2006, it has also accepted MasterCard for purchases.
HSBC has also issued credit cards processed through the Discover Network, and branded with the Discover logo, since its acquisition of card issuer Metris in late 2005. Metris had originally signed an agreement with Discover in September 2005, only three months prior to the HSBC acquisition.
Morgan Stanley was long thought to want to sell the Discover Card business, and in April 2005, it announced that it would divest Discover Financial Services as an independent company within six months. However, by June industry sources reported that Morgan Stanley was reassessing its plan to spin off Discover.
Finally, in August 2005, the company confirmed it would not sell Discover. In yet another reversal, in December 2006, Morgan Stanley announced it would, again, spin off Discover as a standalone company by the end of August 2007. The spin-off was finalized ahead of schedule, on June 30, 2007.
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