JCB, the largest credit card acquirer issuers in Japan, has been focusing its efforts on new technologies, including contactless payments, under new president and CEO Takakura Tamio.

According to TheAsianBanker.com,Tamio also hopes to form new partnerships with companies like Discover, American Express, and Diners to build global networks and compete with Visa and Mastercard. While the company currently loses money on contactless payments, it sees the technology as a means to increase awareness of the JCB brand.