Shopee adds to service offering with JCB tie-up

Source: JCB. Graphic illustrating a partnership between JCB
and Shopee.

Shopee, the e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, and JCB International Company, the international operations subsidiary of JCB will jointly provide quality e-commerce and payments services for the Southeast Asian market.

The partnership will launch in July 2020 in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, followed by Singapore and the Philippines in the following months. JCB will offer year-round and seasonal discounts and an additional safe and secure payment method for shoppers. Shopee will also promote participating stores that support JCB.

Yoshiki Kaneko, President and COO, JCB International Company said, "JCB is proud to be working with Shopee, a market leader in e-commerce segment, as we further commit to supporting our customers in the fast-growing Southeast Asia region. In particular, as consumer shopping habits shift to online and businesses digitalise their activities, we want to be able to further cater to these evolving needs.

"Over the past 10 years, Southeast Asia has been a growth market for JCB and we're confident that together with Shopee, we can provide high-quality payments services for businesses and consumers, and continue to grow together with the region. Going forward, JCB and Shopee will continue to provide attractive and convenient services for our customers."

Terence Pang, COO, Shopee, said: "As homegrown brands, both Shopee and JCB are deeply committed to supporting local Southeast Asian markets and businesses. This partnership further strengthens our ecosystem to enable brands and sellers in Southeast Asia to capture the opportunities in online commerce.

"For our shoppers, they will benefit from having another secure payment method and enjoy additional promotions. This is even more crucial in this new normal as commerce is increasingly done online and we need to be able to support diverse habits and preferences. We believe that JCB will bring added value to our ecosystem and look forward to accelerating the digital economy in Southeast Asia together."

A joint report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company found that the Southeast Asia Internet economy has soared to US$100 billion in 2019, more than tripling in size over the last four years. By 2025, the region's Internet economy is expected to grow to US$300 billion. The report also estimates that 150 million Southeast Asians have bought or sold things online, up three times from 2015*.

According to App Annie, Shopee emerged as the top in the Shopping category by average monthly active users and downloads for Q120 in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, and also by total time spent in-app on Android devices. With more Southeast Asian consumers going online through their mobile, Shopee is also focused on driving digital payments in the region. In 2019, Shopee launched ShopeePay, its own integrated mobile wallet.

JCB, the only international payment brand born in Japan, has focused on expanding its international issuing business to Asian markets since the 2000s. JCB cards are issued in 24 countries and territories, with more than 140 million card members. JCB's card members in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Singapore have more than doubled between 2017 and 2019.

Shopee enables e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. It offers a wide product assortment, supported by integrated payments and logistics, as well as popular entertainment features tailored for each market. Shopee is a part of Sea, a global consumer Internet company. Sea's other core businesses include digital entertainment arm Garena, and digital financial services arm SeaMoney.


*e-Conomy SEA 2019 (PDF). Accessed 2 July 2020.