EON BANK to Launch First Visa B2B Distribution Card in Malaysia
EON Bank Press Room, 15 November 2006, Kuala Lumpur
Visa International and EON Bank Group today launched a new mobile distribution card payment service for business-to-business (B2B) transactions. The EON Bank Visa B2B Distribution Card will facilitate payment between a dealer or a retailer and its wholesaler or distributor using the Secured Transaction & Electronic Payment System (STEPS).
The first merchant partners for this innovative service, who are also major distributors in their respective fields, are Diethelm Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Zitron Enterprise (M) Sdn Bhd and Kai Shen Marketing Sdn Bhd. Rhythm Technologies Sdn Bhd is the strategic partner supplying the STEPS mobile terminal.
STEPS was developed by Rhythm Technologies to replace cheques and cash transactions with EMV chip-based Visa B2B distribution card. With STEPS, companies can conduct sales transactions and make payments onsite, anytime with guaranteed on time settlement from EON Bank.
The EON Bank Visa Distribution Card and mobile transaction terminal greatly simplifies the procurement and payment process for businesses and replaces the traditional invoicing method. It complements Visa's traditional card programs as an electronic solution that gives buyers and sellers new level of control and flexibility when making or receiving B2B payments.
The EON Bank Visa B2B distribution card extend a credit term that will match or better the existing terms given by the wholesaler or distributor. It has no annual fee and bears the same interest charges at 18 percent per annum for overdue payments.
The distribution card represents an entirely new model in commercial payment solutions. It allows the buyer to determine when to initiate electronic payment, defer settlement of the payment based on pre-established terms with wholesaler and transact the type of B2B payments needed in today's procurement environment.
For merchant, the card allows improved cash flow as payment will be taken care of by the bank within one or two days following the B2B transaction. The credit risk of extending credit terms to the dealer or retailer will now be assumed by EON Bank. This helps merchants reduce their operation costs in terms of receivables and improves cash flow.
The benefits to retailers include immediate access to view the status of transaction details online at EON Bank's internet banking website. This helps retailers streamline and better manage payments and information while benefiting from an interest free credit term ranging from 30 days to 90 days.
Diethelm currently sells pharmaceuticals to about 2,000 clinics and accepts payment through traditional invoices and cheques which are cleared in 60 days. The new program will allow EON Bank to issue Visa credit cards to 2,000 clinics. When the through the pre-issued distribution cards. Diethelm delivery staff process the transaction through the hand-held STEPS mobile terminal and EON Bank will pay Diethelm directly on the next working day while holding the charged amount in the clinic card accounts. EON Bank will then include these charges in the clinics' monthly bills.
EON Bank Group, chief executive officer Albert Lau Yiong said, "EON Bank is expected to issue at least 3,500 EON Bank Visa B2B Distribution Cards to our three pioneer distribution card merchants. These three merchants have a total combines business volume of RM2.2 billion and we expect 50 percent of it to convert to B2B payments within a year.
In the Malaysian banking industry, commercial payment services are still relatively new but the market potential is enormous. We are confident that our EON Bank Visa B2B Distribution Card would be able to capture a sizeable market share because of the benefits it provides to both merchants and retailers. It is our aim to provide a variety of payment services to all our customers. By launching this EON Bank Visa B2B Distribution Card, we expect to sign at least another five merchants within the next six months and to issue 10,000 cards within the next 12 months," Lau added.
Jeffrey Perera, Visa International country manager for Malaysia, said, "The distribution card model has worked very well for Visa in our efforts in various other countries including Korea, Taiwan and in Latin America and we shared our best practices from these other programmes and ensured the maintenance of high levels of security standards through EMV compliance for this initiative in Malaysia. We are confident that with the driving forces of EON Bank and STEPS, businesses in Malaysia will be quick to embrace this new program."
[15 Nov 06 at 06 07:43 PM]
...Back
|
