JCB, MasterCard Share PayPass Contactless Protocol

Visa International announced support for the protocol in March 2005, and JCB`s adoption of the specification means that these major international card brands will be basing their contactless payment applications on the same communications protocol.

While contactless payment applications vary by brand, the common specification for communications protocol will allow POS terminal vendors to reduce the burden of system development, as well as reducing initial costs and lead time for most financial institutions and merchants because they do not have to purchase multiple POS terminals to support contactless card products. The common communication protocol ensures global interoperability for contactless payment products, and as a result it is anticipated that the pace of deployment of contactless terminals will accelerate.

"We are pleased to work with MasterCard on this communication protocol, and I am sure this agreement will contribute to simplifying the various operational procedures for our partner members and vendors." said Akihiko Shigemori, Senior Vice President, Advanced Technologies, JCB Co., Ltd. "By this arrangement, we at JCB can accelerate our expansion of our contactless payment field in the international markets, while we continue to boost our QUICPay(TM) product in Japan, which is based on FeliCa(R) technology."

JCB rolled out the "QUICPay" contactless payment product in Japan in April 2005, a scheme supported by Sony`s FeliCa chip specification, which is widely employed for contactless payment solutions such as public transportation fare systems and mobile phone applications. In recognition of the necessity of globally standardized contactless payment services for markets around the world, JCB plans to begin development of an international JCB brand contactless solution based on the common communication protocol this year.