Westpac bank has announced a
partnership with US-based e-business provider Intelisys Electronic Commerce
to operate its Australian and New Zealand e-procurement network and develop
an Australasian business-to-business (B2B) marketplace.
A Westpac group company will take a 49 percent equity investment worth
AUS$45 million (US$27 million) in the new entity, which will be known as
Intelisys Australia.
The new joint venture company will allow businesses to communicate
and trade in a secure, paper-free environment via open exchange
marketplaces, enabling users to interact with other network systems and
access a variety of e-commerce trading platforms.
The Intelisys ConnectTrade e-commerce solution will be used to meet
Westpac’s e-procurement needs, which include the development of a
Westpac-branded portal for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and
the establishment of e-marketplaces for other organizations and some
corporate Westpac clients.
Westpac said it will offer purchase to payment e-procurement solutions
for corporate customers and launch a trading community for SMEs by the end
of the year.
“We will offer our customers – whatever their size – real buying power
and the opportunity to sell goods and services over the Net to other
members of the business community, to reach new customers and expand their
businesses,” said Westpac’s managing director, Dr David Morgan.
“With SMEs the fastest growing sector of the Australian economy, growing
our share of this market is a key strategic objective,” said Dr Morgan.
“Like all businesses, SMEs spend heavily on procurement but to date have
had limited purchasing power”.
Intelisys Australasia will derive income streams from software licence
sales and a fee from marketplace transactions. The partnership also
involves reseller rights into Asia and is expected to be the springboard
into the broader Asia-Pacific region.