Russia's ICB Bank Starts JCB Merchant Acquiring.

Tokyo, Japan, Aug 10, 2005 - (JCN Newswire) - JCB, a leading international payment brand, is pleased to announce that one of Russia's largest banks, the Industry & Construction Bank, Plc. (ICB) based in St. Petersburg, began JCB merchant acquiring this month. This new license agreement for merchant operations in St. Petersburg and its surrounding areas between JCB and ICB was signed in March of this year.

ICB, established in 1990, is one of Russian's largest banks and is currently one of the country's largest issuers with 850,000 international brand cards, and also has the largest share of merchants in the St. Petersburg area, including major hotels, restaurants and shops.

"We are happy to partner with ICB, one of the largest banks in Russia," said Mr. Shunji Yoshioka, General Manager at JCB International (Europe) Ltd. based in London. "The partnership with ICB not only adds new merchants to JCB's existing network of 10,000 in Russia, but also significantly strengthens JCB acceptance in the popular tourist destination of St. Petersburg," he added.

The agreement with ICB for merchant acquiring operations marks the second in Russia for JCB, following a license granted in 1995 to Moscow's United Card Services (UCS). Combined with JCB's extensive merchant network in Moscow, the new partnership with ICB provides wider acceptance of JCB in Russia and greater convenience for JCB cardmembers traveling to St. Petersburg.

"Russia is home to more than twenty World Heritage Sites, and is attracting more and more travelers from overseas, and especially from Japan," said Mr. Alexei Chamaiko, Head of Card Technologies Department at ICB. "By partnering with JCB, we look forward to meeting our merchants' needs in serving Japanese travelers, as well as from other Asian countries," he added.

St. Petersburg in particular offers the Hermitage museum, one of the world's most prominent art museums, the Peter and Paul Fortress, and other historic buildings and artifacts. JCB acceptance in the "cultural heart of modern Russia" makes the international JCB brand even more advantageous.

Japanese tourists to Russia in 2003 numbered 86,000, 17.7% more than the previous year according to the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO), and more continued growth is expected.

About Industry & Construction Bank, Plc.

One of the largest banks in Russia, ICB was established in 1990. Today it is the one of the largest issuers of credit cards in Russia, with over 850,000 international credit and debit cards. ICB provides a full range of commercial banking services through a network of 143 offices in 62 cities and over 600 ATMs. For more information about ICB, please visit at: www.icbank.ru.

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