TOKYO, June 27, 2006 - JCB International Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd. today announced that it has appointed Kenji Seto to serve as Senior Deputy President.

Seto joined JCB Co., Ltd. in 2005 as Executive Officer of Issuing Business Headquarters in the Japanese market, where he was mainly responsible for the development of alliance business with key accounts. His outstanding leadership ensured that several important co-branded cards were successfully launched during this period.

Seto is an acknowledged banking industry expert with close to 30 years experience at SMBC, particularly in investment banking, merger and acquisition, and business with key enterprises in global markets. For 15 of those years he was based in the UK and Belgium with responsibility for the whole European market, where he made a significant contribution through investment banking to a number of emerging Japanese enterprises. During his career at SMBC, he spent 9 years in senior management positions in the Corporate Banking Department of European Division, the Structured Finance and Financial Products Department, and also served as the Deputy Managing Director of Sakura Finance International, Ltd.

"Taking on this important role, I feel deep respect and gratitude for what my predecessors and the current members of JCB have achieved in spite of the unsettled world situation over the past several years," said Seto. "My commitment is to lead the implementation of JCB's current international strategy, which means focusing on issuing in the Asian market, expansion of acceptance in the United States and Europe, and also strengthening the brand infrastructure worldwide. To achieve this important mission, we need to be united and support each other in creating an even stronger organization than ever before."

"I am convinced of Mr. Seto's excellence in the banking industry," said Kunio Yoshizawa, President and Chief Operating Officer. "His broad experience and in-depth knowledge as senior management in global markets will make a great contribution to JCB."

Biography

Kenji Seto
Senior Deputy President
JCB International Co., Ltd.

Kenji Seto is Senior Deputy President of JCB International Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd. JCB is one of the five global payment brands, and a pioneer in the Japanese credit card market.

Seto joined JCB Co., Ltd. in 2005 as Executive Officer and Head of Issuing Business Headquarters in the Japanese market, where he was responsible for overall development of JCB card recruitment. After providing outstanding leadership for wide variety of strategic initiatives, leading corporate development, creating new issuing business, building cross-industrial alliances, Seto was appointed to focus on the development of alliance business with key accounts, especially the strengthening those in Tokyo metropolitan area, the most important district in Japan. During this period, he successfully managed the building of several major alliances for launching co-branded cards, including Nippon Cultural Broadcasting, Incorporated and the mega-enterprises KDDI and Tokyo Metro.

Seto is an acknowledged banking industry expert with close to 30 years experience at SMBC, particularly in investment banking, merger and acquisition, and business with key enterprises in global markets. For 15 of those years he was based in the UK and Belgium and spent 9 years in senior management positions in the Corporate Banking Department of European Division, the Structured Finance and Financial Products Department, and also served as the Deputy Managing Director of Sakura Finance International, Ltd.

During his 15 years in Europe, Seto was responsible for providing investment banking services to Japanese companies on the European continent, including the Middle East, Russia, and Africa. With his in-depth knowledge of sales and marketing, production and distribution, as well as financial services in the banking industry, he assisted a number of emerging Japanese companies to set up operations in Europe. He also served as Deputy Managing Director of Sakura Finance International, Ltd., Sakura Bank's securities firm in London for 2 years, where he engaged in selling Japanese corporate and government bonds.

During his 15 years in Japan, his experience ranged broadly from cross-border M&A to sales and promotion of sophisticated financial products such as real estate financing, leases, and project financing. He also has experience as senior manager for business with SMBC's core customers.

Seto is a graduate of Kobe City University of Foreign Studies.