US-based investment banking company JP Morgan has joined the French payments network Cartes Bancaires CB, to provide merchant clients with access to the payment network.
Cartes Bancaires CB was created in 1984 to implement a universal and interoperable card and mobile payment system, along with a cash withdrawal system in ATMs in France.
With more than 100 member banks and payment institutions worldwide as members, Cartes Bancaires CB governs the CB card and mobile payment system.
Last month, the US investment bank secured the necessary license to join the French payments network as a principal member.
JP Morgan EMEA payments and commerce solutions co-head Ludovic Houri said: “Membership of Cartes Bancaires CB will help us take this to a whole new level in Europe and France in particular. It is also a huge honour to become a principal member of Cartes Bancaires CB.
“We are excited to participate in the strategic direction of the scheme by supporting its continued expansion and development, helping maintain its long history of providing secure and efficient payments to its users.”
Cartes Bancaires CB is one of the top payment systems in France, with 15 billion CB transactions per year by card or through mobile phone.
By joining the network as a principal member, JP Morgan intends to provide its merchant clients with acquiring services of Cartes Bancaires CB payment transactions by the end of this year.
The company aims to provide competitive transaction costs and local processing performance for French debit and credit card transactions.
JP Morgan said that its EMEA Payments business currently processes more than $1tr of payments daily, supporting more than 1,500 active European merchant clients.
CB defines the interbank rules and procedures, manages risks, and ensures that the products and services are in line with the requirements of technical and security standards.
Furthermore, CB operates an information system that provides its members with high-performance data-mining tools to help fight against fraud.
Cartes Bancaires CB CEO Philippe Laulanie said: “CB and JP Morgan share the same values, those that have made our both respective organisations successful: the values of economic efficiency, innovation, inclusion and security.”
JP Morgan EMEA payments head Shahrokh Moinian said: “Our EMEA franchise has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and this is a major milestone in our growth journey and wider ambition to become Europe’s leading payments provider.
“The European payments landscape is rapidly evolving and our principal membership positions us perfectly to provide future innovations and efficiencies to our clients.”
