PARIS, March 5 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM )

said on Tuesday it had joined France's leading payments network

Cartes Bancaires (CB), becoming the first U.S. bank to do so as

it seeks to offer cheaper card payment costs to its clients in

the country.

JPMorgan's ( JPM ) merchant customers, which include some of the

largest U.S. firms, will be able to process their payment via

the CB's network by the end of 2024, JPMorgan ( JPM ) added, offering a

domestic alternative to rival services provided by Visa

and Mastercard ( MA ).

By doing so, the U.S. bank aims to "provide competitive

transaction costs" to its clients, it said, without elaborating.

For international transactions where the CB network isn't

accepted, the CB-branded cards can fall back on the Visa or

Mastercard ( MA ) networks. In such cases, the payment processing would

follow the rules and networks of Visa or Mastercard ( MA ).

For payments made locally in France, it's usually cheaper

for merchants run them over Cartes Bancaires.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) joined Cartes Bancaires' 12-member governance body

on Feb. 15.

The so-called "principal members" include all major French

lenders such as BNP Paribas, Societe Generale

and Credit Agricole. The only foreign bank in the

circle so far was HSBC.

Founded 40 years ago, the Cartes Bancaires network processes

about two thirds of the everyday French consumers' transactions.

There are about 76 million CB cards in circulation. Cartes

Bancaires also operates 50,000 cash dispensers.

Lenders are seeking to grow in the payments business, which

a 2023 McKinsey report sees reaching $3.2 trillion globally in

2027, up from $2.2 trillion in 2022.

Out of this total, McKinsey estimates the share of banking

revenues to be 38%, up from 36% in 2022.