National Computer Systems Pte Ltd. (NCS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Singapore Telecom Group, Friday launched the ePartner Priority Club for Web merchants on its Consumer Connect program, and announced a partnership with Netlife Singapore Pte Ltd. to provide Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) and cross border transaction capabilities.
“The ePartner Priority Club objective is to ensure that there is continued and growing online business for Consumer Connect’s partners and merchants,” said V. Vijaykumarr, manager of Consumer Connect in NCS.
He said the launch of the ePartner Priority Club begins phase two of the Consumer Connect program, which is a one-stop solution for setting up Web storefronts and transaction capabilities.
With this launch, NCS will invest a single digit million Singapore dollars to help defray merchants’ marketing cost and offer them transaction rebates.
Marketing activities include online advertising on Yahoo!, SingNet, Pacific Internet, AsiaOne, and Shopping Village; traditional advertising on dailies; and PR campaigns.
Merchants must participate in Consumer Connect for at least two years to be eligible for the ePartner Priority Club.
NCS will also work with the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) and Visa Inc. for “Casetrust” and “Visa Preferred” endorsement respectively.
Vijaykumarr said the auditing of the Consumer Connect system for Casetrust approval is in progress.
He added that the Consumer Connect system will be able to carry out Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) and cross border transaction this June. This is the result of a partnership with Netlife and the clearing houses in the region.
The ePartner Priority Club Friday opened to Web merchants in Singapore. It will be rolled out to other Consumer Connect merchants in the region via NCS’ subsidiaries and partners later in the year.
Since the launch of Consumer Connect two years ago, NCS has enrolled an estimate of 100 merchants from Singapore, Australia, India, and Hong Kong.
Vijaykumarr said the company expects 250 merchants in the region to be enrolled by end 1999, with 80 percent from Singapore.
