JCB cardholders spend in Europe is up a whopping 63% between 2017 and 2018.
And Asian JCB cardholders are also ramping up expenditure in other international markets.
Go deeper with GlobalData
In particular, JCB reports 45% global growth in total annual sales volumes in the past four years.
JCB cardholder numbers are also on the rise and now exceed 130 million worldwide.
According to JCB, Asian spending power is projected to hit $32.6trn by 2026.
JCB says that European retailers who accept the JCB card report that on average one half of their customers are international.
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By GlobalDataAnd one merchant tells JCB that 100% of its customers came from outside the EU.
The JCB cardholders spend data is released in a whitepaper ‘Building Foundations For Growth’.
This includes a survey of JCB cardmembers spend from customers resident in China, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea.
It also contains exclusive proprietary spend data based on offline and online spend by JCB cardmembers.
JCB cardholders spend: huge potential for European merchants
The findings highlight the wider growth potential for European merchants offered by Asian holders of international debit and credit cards.
But according to JCB, many retailers are still unsure of how to utilise this new revenue stream.
Highlights from the report include:
- JCB says that 44% of its cardholders resident in China took their card abroad to buy high priced purchases;
- Japanese cardmembers outbound travel increased 2% worldwide in January 2019 year-on-year;
- 6% of South Korean cardholders who travelled in 2017 used an international brand card 2-3 times;
- 5% of Thai cardmembers who travelled in 2017 used their card for payment abroad 2-3 times.
JCB cardholders spend: the high net worth sector
The report also examines how high net-worth individuals among JCB Asian cardmembers are spending their money in Europe.
- France: the 2018 average transaction value per year is €275.80;
- Of all JCB Chinese spend in France in 2018, 42% went to one merchant.
- The same merchant took home 31.5% of total South Korean JCB spend and 26% of Thai spend;
- In Italy, the 2018 average transaction value per year is€271.40
- One third of Thai JCB visitor spend in 2018 was allocated to luxury designer retail outlets, high end department stores and luxury watch stores;
- In Austria, the average transaction value per year is €188.60;-
- 12% of Chinese JCB visitor spend, 15% of Taiwanese and 24.5% of Thai spend went to one luxury retailer.
- One watch retailer took 5% of Thai visitor spend;
- In Germany, the average transaction value per year is €188.60;-
- 13% of aggregated spend for Thai JCB cardmembers went to one German airline;
- In Spain, the average transaction value per year is €159.40;
- 27% of Thai JCB visitor spend in Spain was with one luxury watch store.
Customers’ expectations on the rise
In the UK, the average transaction value spend in 2018 is more modest at €125.26. One UK luxury retail store took more than 10% of Chinese JCB visitor spend. Meantime, Thai cardmembers made 18% of their purchases at one specific luxury department store.
Tsuyoshi Notani, MD JCB International (Europe) Ltd., says: “It will be fascinating to see the changes in Asian purchase behaviour over the next few years. Customers’ expectations of their shopping experience is changing in the light of new payment technology and expanding e-commerce opportunities.
“At JCB, we have experienced a growth of 45% in the last four years. Now we have a current user base of 130 million cardmembers worldwide. In response to this increase, we’re looking at technology and behavioural trends. We will enhance the merchant and customer experience both right now and in the not too distant future.
“Providing a seamless omnichannel customer experience including special offers, is a key factor for growth. This generates loyalty with mobile-first customers who are used to very high standard of service.
“As the payments ecosystem evolves and innovative payment providers and fintech businesses further integrate with established corporates, the opportunity for a comprehensive and frictionless payments experience will only strengthen for European merchants.”
