JPMorgan and Network International Partner to Improve Acquiring

J.P. Morgan Payments and Network International, a digital commerce company focused on the Middle East and Africa, have teamed up to bolster the bank’s acquiring services.

The partnership will allow J.P. Morgan Payments to expand and complement its existing payment offerings in the Middle East and Africa, according to a Monday (Sept. 4) press release.

“Access to Network International’s innovative acceptance solutions and decades of expertise in card processing and value-added services in the region will enable J.P. Morgan Payments to expand and complement its existing payments proposition in the region to its customers,” Network International said in the release.

Sandeep Dhawan, J.P. Morgan’s product head for central Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said in the release that the Middle East is crucial for the bank’s payment business.

“It’s an exciting place to be right now with a huge growth opportunity,” Dhawan said. “In this regard, we are investing in the region and are delighted to be partnering with notable regional players such as Network International to complement our existing capabilities in the region. Underpinning all of this are our efforts to bring the best propositions to our clients through our platforms and those of our partners and network providers.”

Network International has its own growth ambitions in the Middle East, PYMNTS wrote earlier this year after the company teamed with Mastercard and the transport authority of Amman, Jordan, to build a new digital payments system for the city’s buses.

Also this year, the company won approval from the Central Bank of Egypt to launch its new “direct-to-merchant” service in the country, allowing businesses to accept electronic payments from their customers online and at the point of sale (POS) via a dedicated terminal or tap-on-phone technology.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS spoke last month with Eileen Dignen, global head of payments for Corporate Client Banking at J.P. Morgan, about the ways embedded payments can help companies connect with new clients.

However, that report noted, new payment strategies require companies to harness the relevant data to identify and anticipate changing customer tastes.

“We always say that business innovation follows consumer expectations,” Dignen said at the time.