DUBAI: Arab National Bank and JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co. Ltd., have partnered to launch JCB Card acceptance at all its POS and ATM locations deployed in Saudi Arabia. As part of supporting the cashless society and financial inclusion that is related to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, anb, as the bank is known, and JCB have partnered to enable the acceptance of JCB Cards. The partnership is a continuation of JCB’s plan for entering the Saudi market. JCB Middle East’s Regional Head and CEO Yuichiro Kadowaki said that the Kingdom has “always been a very important destination for many of JCB’s cardholders, from both business and religious perspectives.” The CEO also said that the partnership will enhance bilateral ties between Saudi Arabia and Japan. Deputy Managing Director of anb Nizar Altwaijri explained that the Arab bank’s strategic agreement with JCB will “go a long way in supporting the tourism sector, which is one of the pillars of Saudi Vision 2030.” He added that the agreement will position Saudi Arabia as “as one of the leading countries to accept a wide range of international scheme cards as part of its payment eco-system.” JCB is a major global payment brand and a payment card issuer and acquirer in Japan, and JCB Cards are used by more than 140 million cardholders and accepted at about 39 million locations globally.