Credit card issuer JCB has announced that Japan Railways will start accepting Discover Card starting 1 April 2020.
Using Discover Card, commuters can purchase rail tickets at station ticket offices and ticket vending machines.
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Japan Railways comprises of six-passenger railway companies. This includes JR Hokkaido, JR East, JR Central, JR West, JR Shikoku and JR Kyushu.
Japan Railways owns and operates the majority of Japan’s railway network.
The group runs a country-wide network of urban, regional and interregional train lines and the bullet trains (shinkansen).
The Discover Card is used globally; however, it is mainly issued in the US.
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By GlobalDataJCB and Discover have an existing partnership for mutual acceptance of both merchant networks in multiple countries including Japan and the USA.
This alliance allows acceptance of JCB Card at Discover merchants in countries where Discover has presence, which includes the USA.
It also allows acceptance of Discover Card at JCB merchants in JCB acceptance territories including Japan.
JCB, which launched its card business in Japan in 1961, has about 33 million merchants in its acceptance network. Its network also includes cash advance locations around the world.
JCB cards are now issued in 24 countries and territories, with more than 130 million cardmembers.
