JCB and Shopee announce strategic partnership in Southeast Asian region

By Edil Corneille

Shopee, an e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, and JCB International (JCBI) enter into a regional agreement to provide online merchants and shoppers with enhanced payment options. Through this collaboration, the two homegrown Asian brands will jointly provide quality e-commerce and payment 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 Chief Operating Officer, JCB International enthused, “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.”

A joint report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company found that the Southeast Asia internet economy has soared to $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 $300 billion. The report also estimates that 150 million Southeast Asians have bought or sold things online, up three times from 2015.

Terence Pang, Chief Operating Officer, Shopee enunciated, “We are honoured to be a strategic business partner with JCB. 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.”