The payments technology and fleet card provider WEX has partnered with the Japanese-based international card network JCB as it expands its virtual cards into Japan.
The deal brings WEX’s virtual card payment technology to the Japanese market and joins a growing list of partnerships in which the company has engaged to expand its virtual cards business in Asia. In September WEX partnered with Australia-based Troovo to streamline virtual card payments in the Asia-Pacific region and in October it partnered with Payment Logic to support automated vehicle registration for fleet operators in Australia using its virtual cards.
The WEX-JCB agreement makes WEX the first issuer of virtual cards on the JCB card network. The program is expected to launch in the second half of 2019.
“The JCB collaboration represents WEX’s commitment to expanding our presence in the Asia market, and entering Japan is a exciting step for us,” said Jay Dearborn, president of corporate payments at WEX, in a press release.
Entering the Japanese market is an important step for WEX in growing its Asia business and continuing its diversification beyond its core fleet card offering. Japan has a large addressable market as it is the world’s third-largest economy based on GDP according to the World Bank. Partnering with JCB allows WEX to provide a broader offering of card networks to the Japanese companies it seeks to attract.
This summer WEX added Visa to its virtual card offering in addition to the existing Mastercard brand in its portfolio. The addition of the Visa network was to entice clients in multiple sectors such travel, health care media and insurance to switch more payments from checks to cards with more options based on their needs and demands.
WEX released its Q3 financial results earlier this week with total revenue rising to $382.7 million, up from $324.0 million for the third quarter of 2017. Net income for the quarter was $57.3 million, up from $34.0 million for the third quarter of 2017.
The Travel and Corporate Solutions unit which is where the virtual cards business resides reported purchase volume growth of $9.6 billion for the quarter, up from $8.7 billion in the same quarter of 2017.
