Completion of JV

HSBC Holdings PLC
25 July 2006



                      HSBC COMPLETES PAYMENT PROCESSING JV
                           WITH GLOBAL PAYMENTS INC.


Following its announcement on 8 September 2005, The Hongkong and Shanghai
Banking Corporation Limited has now completed its formation of a joint venture
merchant acquiring business in Asia with Global Payments Inc. The new company
will be called Global Payments Asia Pacific Limited.

HSBC has completed the transfer of its credit card merchant acquiring businesses
in 10 countries and territories in Asia to the new joint venture. HSBC holds a
44 per cent interest in Global Payments Asia Pacific, while Global Payments Inc.
has acquired a 56 per cent stake in the new company following its payment of a
consideration of US$67.2 million to HSBC.

Michael Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Hongkong and
Shanghai Banking Corporation, said: "We have seen substantial growth in the
credit cards business throughout Asia in recent years. We expect this growth to
persist as Asia continues to be supported by sturdy economic conditions and
rising personal consumption. This joint venture will strengthen our capabilities
in the card merchant acquiring business as Global Payments Asia Pacific will
benefit from HSBC's strong presence in the region as well as Global Payments
Inc.'s technological expertise."

Paul R Garcia, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Global
Payments Inc., said: "We are honoured to have been chosen by HSBC for this
important joint venture. Having the ideal partner for payment card processing
makes our prospects for success in this dynamic and growing region even more
compelling."

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Global Payments Asia Pacific will be headed by its
Managing Director, Ian Courtnage, who was previously with HSBC as a senior
manager within its card merchant acquiring business. The joint venture will have
an initial complement of about 120 employees providing services to an existing 
base of over 45,000 merchant outlets. Global Payments Asia Pacific's board will
comprise three directors from Global Payments Inc. and two from HSBC.

1. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited is the founding and a
principal member of the HSBC Group which, with over 9,500 offices in 76
countries and territories and assets of US$1,502 billion at 31 December 2005, is
one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations.

2. Global Payments Inc.
Global Payments Inc. is one of the largest payment processing providers in the
world, offering transaction processing products and services that manage,
support and speed up the processing of funds and payment information. Global
Payments has offices in the US, UK, Europe, Canada and Mexico, and assets
totalling over US$980 million at 28 February 2006.

Global Payments is a leading provider of electronic transaction processing
services for consumers, merchants, independent sales organisations, financial
institutions, government agencies and multinational corporations located
throughout the US, Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Asia -Pacific region.
Global Payments offers a comprehensive line of processing solutions for credit
and debit cards, business-to-business purchasing cards, gift cards, electronic
cheque conversion and cheque guarantee, cheque verification and recovery, as
well as terminal management. The company also provides consumer money transfer
services from the US and Europe to destinations in Latin America, Morocco and
the Philippines.





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