Singapore JCB card acceptance will receive a boost thanks to a new partnership opening the door to more retailers.

Japan’s JCB International, the international subsidiary of JCB, and Singapore’s payment systems provider Network for Electronic Transfers (Nets) have teamed up to expand the number of businesses accepting cards using the JCB system.

Singapore has about 15 million visitors annually and Changi Airport is a regional hub for more than 100 airlines flying to more than 300 cities. There has also been an increase in tourism arrivals from Asia and India because of air travel becoming more affordable.

Nets has a merchant network of 91,000 acceptance points, and the new collaboration aligns with the Singapore government’s vision of a Smart Financial Centre where there is less use of cash and cheques.

Nets CEO Jeffrey Goh says the partnership will deliver greater benefits to Singapore merchants.

“Our merchants will be able to offer more payment options for their customers, tapping a sizeable pool of JCB card members and the significant number of Japanese tourists in Singapore.”