JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced on Tuesday its partnership with France’s primary payment network Cartes Bancaires (CB), as the first US bank to join the network, offering reduced card payment costs to its clients in France, according to Reuters.
JPMorgan Chase is poised to enable its major US merchant clients to process payments via France’s Cartes Bancaires network by late 2024, presenting a cost-effective alternative to Visa and Mastercard.
For transactions outside the CB network’s reach, CB-branded cards will utilise Visa or Mastercard’s networks and adhere to their processing standards.
Local payments in France are generally more cost-effective for merchants when processed through Cartes Bancaires.
JPMorgan recently became a member of the CB governance board, joining major French banks and HSBC as the only other international bank.
CB, established four decades ago, handles the majority of daily transactions for French consumers, with around 76 million CB cards in use and 50,000 ATMs operated by the network.
The banking sector is focusing on expanding its presence in the payments market, which is projected to grow to $3.2 trillion by 2027, with banks’ revenue share expected to increase slightly.
