Visa International, the world's leading payment brand, and SAP AG, the leading provider of inter-enterprise software solutions, today announced plans to enhance mySAP.com with an integrated solution for electronic payments based on the Visa Purchasing system for corporate procurement departments. The integration of the Visa payment and data delivery mechanism into mySAP.com brings to market a fully integrated end-to-end e-commerce solution that will enable companies to streamline procurement processes by connecting corporate buyers, suppliers and Visa Member banks. The enhanced e-commerce solution will provide further process efficiencies and cost savings for companies planning to conduct e-business using mySAP.com.
Comprehensive Visa Purchasing payment functionality will be integrated into the new release of the mySAP.com component for electronic commerce, SAP Business-to-Business Procurement (SAP BBP). It will be made available to users of the mySAP.com Marketplace, an open electronic business-to-business hub that is delivered by the SAP e-marketplace spin-off SAPMarkets, during the third quarter of this year. Visa and SAP also intend to provide this integrated payment solution to users of the mySAP.com Workplace, a highly personalized enterprise portal, and to collaborate on other future initiatives, including joint regional electronic procurement solution centers.
Keiron Lynch, Vice President Visa International Commercial Products, said, "This alliance is a significant addition to Visa's third party alliance program. Working with the world's largest inter-enterprise solutions provider consolidates Visa's position as the leading provider of commercial payment and data delivery solutions and supports our ambition to provide the most compelling business solution for electronic commerce for the entire supply chain."
Karl-Heinz Hess, member of the extended executive board of SAP said, "We're pleased to be working with Visa to offer end-to-end e-business solutions. Ultimately these solutions will enable companies of all sizes and industries to fully engage their employees, customers and partners to capitalize on the new Internet economy by fully integrating business, information and payment processes."
By combining mySAP.com with Visa Purchasing, companies will now be able to initiate the necessary accounting and payment processes at the point of purchase with the click of a mouse. A fully automated and accurate end-to-end purchasing function with a flexible management information reporting system, Web-enabled reconciliation, approval processes and delivery of enhanced transaction data, including VAT details, is offered through this integrated solution.
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Visa Global Commercial Product Platforms
Visa International's Commercial Product Platforms Division offers tailored commercial payment solutions for its member banks and corporate clients globally. Visa International is experiencing 40% annual growth rates across its commercial card product lines. There are more than 12 million Visa commercial cards issued globally. Visa International's three commercial card programs, Visa Business, Visa Purchasing and Visa Corporate respectively focus on: the payment needs of small businesses; the procurement needs of medium to large firms; and the travel and entertainment expenses of medium to large firms.
Visa's Commercial Product Platforms Division is also at the leading edge of expanding product platforms and integrating enhanced data, new technologies and delivery channels to meet changing commercial market needs. Visa's business-to-business e-commerce initiatives have included online trading hubs, online procurement strategic alliances and global standards for worldwide interoperability.
Visa International
As the "World's Best Way to Pay," Visa is the world's leading payment brand and the largest payment system worldwide 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* 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 worldwide locations, including at more than 550,000 ATMs in the Visa Global ATM Network. Visa's Internet address is www.visa.com.
SAP
As the market leader of inter-enterprise software solutions, SAP is leveraging its strength in industry-focused business software and the world's largest enterprise software customer base to deliver mySAP.com. mySAP.com provides an open collaborative business environment of personalized solutions on demand. This enables companies of all sizes and industries to fully engage their employees, customers and partners to capitalize upon the new Internet economy. mySAP.com allows people to harness the power of the Internet to work smarter, better and faster by optimizing supply chains, managing strategic relationships, reducing time to market, sharing virtual information, and increasing productivity and shareholder value. SAP is listed on several exchanges including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." The SAP World Wide Web site can be found at http://www.sap.com.