TSYS (TSS) has established its first office in China to focus on business development and emerging electronic payments growth opportunities in China and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

The new office is located in Shanghai.

"China is beginning to see exponential growth in the adoption of electronic payments, which has drawn investments from around the world," says Philip W. Tomlinson, chief executive officer of TSYS. "As one of the world's leaders in payment services, TSYS is eager to offer support, innovation and a spirit of partnership to the financial community in China and across the Asia-Pacific as leaders there address these extraordinary opportunities."

Though China already has more than 875 million debit and credit cards in circulation, that's far less than one card per person in a population of more than 1.3 billion, according to published reports.

Jonathan E. Wheeler will be head of business development for TSYS in China. Wheeler worked more than five years for global services at Vital Processing Services (a former joint venture that is now wholly owned by TSYS), where he specialized in market research and strategy development. For the past three years, Wheeler has served as a lead director in global services for TSYS based in Tokyo.