Joint-Stock Bank Almazergienbank, a regional bank in the Russian Far East, has signed an agreement with JCB International to issue and accept JCB cards in Yakutia.
Almazergienbank has already begun issuing and accepting JCB cards at its ATMs and POS terminals, starting June 2017. Currently, the bank is issuing JCB Standard and JCB Gold grade cards.
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The new cards, which are accepted worldwide, offer 1% cash back for any purchases made abroad as well as discounts at hotels, restaurants and shops through wide network of JCB partners.
Additionally, Almazergienbank will launch co-badged Mir-JCB cards, which are accepted as Mir card in Russia and as JCB card overseas.
Almazergienbank chairman of the board Lyudmila Nikolaeva said: “For Almazergienbank, cooperation with our Japanese partner is highly promising in terms of both commercial and international relations.
“We believe our cooperation will strengthen existing and create new mutually beneficial economic relations between our countries. We are pleased that Almazergienbank as a regional bank representing Yakutia was honoured to become one of the first bridges between Japan and Russia.”
JCB International (Eurasia) general director Takashi Suetsugu said: “We are seeing high potential in developing the cooperation with Almazergienbank since it is one of the leading banking organisations in the Far East of Russia, serving one third of the population of the Sakha republic.
“We are positive that implementation of JCB card acceptance in both POS and ATM network will support expansion and enhancement of banking services and will contribute to developing inbound tourism to the region.”
