Digital Garage Group’s econtext ASIA and Sumitomo Mitsui Card Agree on the Capital and Business Alliance

econtext ASIA Ltd. (Head Office: Hong Kong, Chairman: Kaoru Hayashi / CEO: Takashi Okita, henceforth econtext ASIA) which leads the payment segment of Digital Garage Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company, Limited (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President : Hideo Shimada, henceforth SMCC) have agreed to sign a capital and business alliance to promote payment service business in Japan as well as in other Asian markets. The two companies will take advantage of their respective strengths to further develop their businesses in the rapidly changing online payment industry.

The two parties have agreed on the following:

Strategic planning on increasing the acquisition of new merchants and credit cards transactions by consumers and merchants located in Japan
Strategic planning on accelerating the foreign expansion of the two companies that utilizes each company’s exiting customers, services and other resources in respective regions
SMCC is the pioneer of the “Visa” brand in Japan. And with its high brand and ability to provide wide-range-solutions, it operates comprehensive credit card and payment solutions based on the credit card system’s secure nature.

On the other hand, econtext ASIA was founded in September 2012 as an intermediate holding company as the functional headquarters to oversee the Digital Garage Group’s payment business. Its two subsidiaries, VeriTrans Inc. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Chairman: Kaoru Hayashi / CEO: Takashi Okita, henceforth VeriTrans) and ECONTEXT, INC. (Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Chairman & President: Kaoru Hayashi, henceforth ECONTEXT), represent one of the largest e-commerce payment platforms in Japan. In addition, it established an Indonesian joint venture in 2012 that would provide e-commerce infrastructures, beginning its market development in Asia.

Through this capital and business alliance, the two companies aim to promote their overseas expansion through the planning and development of new payment solutions that leverage their expertise and also excavate promising start-up companies that provide state-of-the-art payment solutions while creating synergies between the marketing and other segments of Digital Garage Group in Asia and North America.

This alliance will allow econtext ASIA to focus on developing and providing e-commerce infrastructure and settlement services optimized for each country or region through various partnerships and strategic alliances in the growing Asian markets.

SMCC has worked actively on overseas expansion, notably by setting up a “U.S. Market Research Office” in Silicon Valley and by establishing a global service network named “GlobePass” in partnership with financial institutions in Asia. It will continue to consider further business development towards the overseas market.

【About Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company, Limited】 http://www.smbc-card.com/
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.’s credit card issurer; the pioneer of the “Visa” brand in Japan that operates comprehensive financial settlement solutions 　　　

【About econtext ASIA Ltd.】 http://www.econtext.asia/
Established in Hong Kong in September 2012, an intermediate holding company responsible for the headquarters function of the Digital Garage Group’s settlement segment that includes VeriTrans, one of Japan’s largest online credit card payment service providers, ECONTEXT, one of Japan’s largest online cash settlement processors including convenience store payments, and PT Midtrans, an Indonesian e-commerce settlement and infrastructure provider formed in joint partnership with a leading local conglomerates.

【Press Contacts】
Corporate Planning Dept. Public Relations Sec
Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company, Limited
public_relations@smbc-card.com

Kiyotaka Harada
ECONTEXT, INC.
econtext ASIA Ltd.
info@econtext.asia