• GHL and JCB announce its strategic partnership, enabling the acceptance of JCB Cards on GHL’s merchant terminals in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
• This partnership ensures that GHL will continue to remain an omni-channel provider of payment acceptance services across its footprint, enabling its merchants to accept all payment types including JCB cards, bolstering the accessibility and flexibility.
• The rollout is set to begin in Malaysia in the third quarter of 2024, followed by Thailand and the Philippines.

TOKYO & KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21, 2024 - (JCN Newswire) - GHL Systems Berhad (GHL) and JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., Japan’s leading international payment brand (JCB) have officially announced its strategic partnership, enabling the acceptance of JCB Cards for GHL’s merchants in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. This regional collaboration represents a significant step forward for both companies, aiming to empower merchants and shoppers across these regions with enhanced payment convenience.

With JCB's extensive global presence and card network, this partnership adds another dimension to GHL's payment solutions. GHL merchants will seamlessly accept JCB Cards, offering a smooth payment experience for JCB cardmembers.

With GHL's merchant network stretching over a vast footprint of over 480,000 payment touchpoints, spanning various sectors across Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, this partnership holds the potential to significantly increase JCB Card usage and accessibility. Through this partnership, the entire region can benefit from greater flexibility and the fostering of stronger business relationships between merchants and customers alike.

The tourism industry is projected to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024, with international tourism levels expected to surpass pre-pandemic figures. This resurgence is primarily driven by a stronger recovery in Asia, according to a report by the UN World Tourism Organization.

Sean Hesh, Executive Director & Group Chief Executive Officer at GHL said, "This partnership not only reinforces our dedication to innovation and delivering seamless payment solutions but also highlights our commitment to simplifying payments regionally. With GHL poised to expand payment options at the merchant’s point of sale, businesses are empowered to better accommodate the anticipated surge in inbound tourist spending in 2024 and beyond."

Hiroko Michishita, Managing Director, JCB International Asia Pacific said, “This is a milestone for JCB’s business expansion in the region since GHL has a strong presence as well as ambition to grow further in acquiring business. Leveraging this partnership, we will be able to better serve our cardmembers from across the globe with enhanced card acceptance points. In addition, our confidence in this partnership is strengthened as GHL utilizes the JCB Payment Gateway* powered by Soft Space.”

The rollout is set to begin in Malaysia in the third quarter of 2024, followed by Thailand and the Philippines.

About GHL Systems Berhad

As ASEAN’s leading payment solutions provider, GHL’s reach spans across 6 countries; Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia – stretching over a vast footprint of over 480,000 payment touchpoints across the region. At the forefront of the region’s cutting edge fintech, GHL empowers the payment revolution that is shaping today’s spending trend, offering extensive payment options, both offline and online to fulfil merchants’ and consumers’ needs.

GHL is the leading payment acquirer in ASEAN for over 100 global and regional payment schemes and channels, processing over RM2 billion payment transactions per month. Apart from being Malaysia’s largest prepaid credit top up and bill collection network, GHL aspires to catalyse sustainable livelihood of the Micro Small Medium Entrepreneurs (MSMEs) through financial and non-financial value-added services. In 2024, GHL Systems Berhad was acquired by and became a wholly owned subsidiary of NTTData Japan, one of the top ten global IT services providers. (www.ghl.com)

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 49 million merchants around the world. JCB Cards are now issued mainly in Asian countries and territories, with more than 158 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/

About JCB Payment Gateway

This is a regional payment gateway service which enables businesses to accept payments from JCB cardmembers, both in-store and online. Powered by Soft Space, a leading fintech-as-a-service (FaaS) provider backed by JCB investment, it offers acquirers and payment facilitators a straightforward Application Programming Interface (API) specification and provides their merchants access to 158 million JCB cardmembers.

For more information, kindly contact:

GHL Group Corporate Communication
Email: marcomm@ghl.com Tel: +603 6286 3388

JCB Corporate Communication
Email: jcb-pr@info.jcb.co.jp Tel: +81-3-5778-8353