Card issuers JCB and Discover Financial Services announced a deal that would allow each company's cardholders to use the payment options at more establishments around the world

. Nearly 58 million JCB cardholders would be able to use their cards at 4 million establishments on the Discover Network in the United States starting in the fall of 2007. About 1 million U.S. establishments currently accept JCB. Discover's 50 million cardholders would be able to use their cards at about 5.8 million establishments on the JCB network in Japan in the spring of 2008. The alliance is part of a global expansion underway for both card issuers. JCB is now accepted in 20 countries, while Discover has expanded acceptance to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and China.