MRO.com, Inc. a leading provider of B2B MRO e-Commerce systems, and Visa International EU region, announced they have joined forces to address the specific needs of the industrial sector within the rapidly growing business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce market.
MST, a Pretoria based Enterprise Asset Management solutions provider and South African agent for MRO.com, Inc. will apply this agreement to the advantage of its local customer base. South Africa falls within the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region where this agreement was negotiated.
The partnership between MRO.com, Inc. and Visa will be particularly attractive to organisations involved in industrial supplies, combining the benefits of Visa`s payment and data delivery solutions with MRO.com, Inc. expertise in managing the complex procurement processes demanded by the purchase of capital-intensive goods.
MRO.com, Inc. e-procurement solutions are fully compliant with Visa`s global payment network enabling settlement and data delivery, which allow companies to manage their payments without the need for paper-intensive, time-consuming and therefore costly settlement procedures.
MRO.com, Inc. and Visa are ideally placed to offer integrated e-procurement and payment solutions for companies in the B2B electronic commerce market. The integration of Visa`s payment and delivery mechanism into MRO.com`s e-procurement system is key to the growth of B2B e-commerce by enabling end-to-end transactions to take place
MRO.com`s solutions are highly intuitive, making them easy to understand by non-specialists and help increase efficiency by delivering relevant information to the right person at the right time. They are fully scaleable, allowing users to grow from small to very large systems as demand increases. Importantly, they can be seamlessly integrated with back-office functions and with applications such as ERP, as well as B2B marketplaces for small, medium and large suppliers.
Visa EU Commercial Products offers innovative payment solutions for its member banks and their corporate customers; addressing the diverse needs of the small business sector, and meeting the management information and control requirements of large corporates and public sector organisations. Visa EU region, with over two million Visa Purchasing, Visa Business and Visa Corporate cards in the market, has seen 40% annual growth in the past three years and is the market leader within the purchasing card sector.
Commenting on the partnership with Visa International, Simon Rothwell, Business Alliance Manager at MRO.com said, "As the world`s leading payment brand, Visa`s partnership with MRO.com offers a powerful combination for the industrial business-to-business electronic market. The efficient procurement of capital-intensive goods is a complex process to which MRO.com`s industrial focus and expertise adds a great deal of value.
"We bring the experience of the world`s largest payment organisation and their innovative solutions to the industrial world, enabling non-specialists such as plant workers to take advantage of the many benefits and cost savings that can be achieved through electronic procurement."
Mr Alain Falys, Senior Vice President for Commercial Products, Visa EU, said, "We`re very pleased to be joining forces with MRO.com in providing the payment and data delivery mechanism within their e-procurement solution. Not only does Visa offer the world`s largest payment network, but leading edge technology and unparalleled brand acceptance, so we`re ideally placed to be the preferred payment mechanism in this rapidly developing B2B electronic marketplace."
Dirk Labuschagne, MST Manager E-Procurement, says some of the local financial institutions and corporate buyers are looking at the Visa commercial products as part of their complete e-commerce strategy.
"To the local industry this means that they will have an opportunity to take part in this global initiative and share in the rewards thereof. For financial institutions it means that they can offer added value solutions to their corporate clients without the risk and cost of going through a technology-sourcing project."
"Payment trends are moving more and more towards Internet based transactions and the processes are shifting from the traditional payment on invoice to payment at placing of order or on shipment date. To enable this shift in processing, the deployment of proven payment solutions and procurement technology are critical. The agreement between MRO.com, Inc. and Visa means that the technology for optimising the purchasing processes are falling in place," he said.
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MRO.com, Inc.
MRO.com, Inc, is a wholly owned subsidiary of PSDI, which develops, markets and supports B2B e-Commerce systems and enterprise asset maintenance software. Through MRO.com PSDI complements its MAXIMO enterprise asset maintenance software with an Internet-based B2B marketplace for MRO buyers and suppliers, a suite of online procurement software products that improve purchasing efficiency, and Internet-based content management tools and cataloguing services.
Businesses, government agencies, and other organisations use the MAXIMO product suite to assist in the maintenance of high-value capital assets, such as plants, facilities, and production equipment, to cut MRO inventories and costs, control maintenance expenses, reduce downtime, and more effectively deploy productive assets, personnel and other resources.
Based in Bedford, Mass., PSDI markets its products through a direct sales force with sales offices throughout United States, Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom, combined with a network of international distributors, including MST, which is the agent for MAXIMO and MRO.com in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Visa EU Commercial Products
Visa EU Commercial Products offers tailored commercial payment solutions for its member banks and corporate clients throughout Europe. Visa`s three commercial card programmes, Visa Business, Visa Corporate and Visa Purchasing provide innovative payment products for companies across the commercial spectrum, addressing the diverse needs of the small business sector, through to meeting the management information and control requirements of large corporates and public sector organisations. Visa EU region, with over 2 million Visa Purchasing, Visa Business and Visa Corporate cards in the market, has seen 40% annual growth in the past three years and is the market leader within the purchasing card sector. Visa is at the forefront of business to business e-commerce by developing electronic payment and data delivery mechanisms to enable companies to conduct fully automated transactions in the emerging commercial e-commerce environment. Visa`s aim is to become the world`s leading commercial payments brand in the physical and virtual world.
As the "Worlds Best Way to Pay"
As the "World`s Best Way to Pay," Visa is the world`s leading payment brand and the largest payment system world-wide with more volume than all other major payment cards combined. Visa plays a pivotal role in advancing new payment products and technologies to benefit its 21,000 member financial institutions and their cardholders. Visa has more than 80 smart card programs in 35 countries and on the Internet, with 23 million Visa chip cards, including 8 million Visa Cash cards. Visa is pioneering SET Secure Electronic Transaction(tm) programs to enable and advance Internet commerce. There are over 970 million Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink, PLUS and Visa Cash cards, which generate more than US$1.5 trillion in annual volume.
Visa-branded cards are accepted at over 18 million world-wide locations, including at more than 550,000 ATMs in the Visa Global ATM Network.