Yet another great deal/PR from my pick for 10 bagger this year. Also, my other pick Fibercore(FBCE) shows great sales increase today:
First Ecom.com, Bank of Bermuda Create Joint Venture To Provide Global Credit Card Payment Processing Solution
HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 16, 2000--First Ecom.com (NASD OTC BB: FECC), a global leader in Internet payment processing services, and the Bank of Bermuda, today announced the formation of First Ecommerce Data Services Limited (FEDS), a new joint venture company that will provide a comprehensive suite of global credit card payment processing services to banks and their merchants -- both online and brick and mortar.
Subject to the finalization of relevant regulatory approvals, First Ecom.com and Bank of Bermuda have created FEDS to provide banks and their merchants the FEDS Processing Solution, which includes online and batch transaction processing for Visa, MasterCard, credit and debit cards. The FEDS Processing Solution includes authorization, electronic data transmission for settlement, and full transaction reporting.
FEDS will grant banks the authority to give their merchants access to the FEDS Processing Solution, which provides a wide range of new services for researching, retrieving and archiving the data associated with the transactions processed on behalf of the banks and their merchants.
The Bank of Bermuda will provide the card processing systems, staff, data processing center and other supporting features, including formal authorization and licenses with regard to the processing of credit card transactions by holders of VISA and MasterCard credit cards.
"This is by far our most significant venture to-date," said Gregory Pek, First Ecom.com president and CEO. "Creating this new joint venture demonstrates that both companies recognize the importance of working together to create a comprehensive, third-party processing solution for banks and their merchants all over the world. FEDS represents a unique payment processing outsourcing opportunity for banks, in that they can work freely with a non-bank, non-competing institution such as FEDS that offers multi-currency payment processing services and can get banks up and running in a matter of days."
Pek added that FEDS overcomes many of the common hurdles facing banks in providing payment processing services to their merchants, including the extreme shortage of qualified technical personnel to build the systems, attracting industry-savvy business partners, increased operating costs for multinational corporations, and high costs associated with system development, maintenance and ongoing R&D. FEDS also addresses the risks associated with banks losing merchant business to competitor banks that have effective payment processing systems because FEDS provides a turnkey solution that can be quickly implemented with any banks existing systems.
"We've been working closely with First Ecom.com since earlier last year, and are very excited about what our new FEDS joint venture will mean, not only for our two companies, but for the vast number of banks and their merchants that understand the clear advantage of outsourcing payment processing," said Alan Richardson, executive vice president, retail clients for the Bank of Bermuda Ltd. "Payment processing has always been the cornerstone of e-commerce and other types of credit card transactions, and we believe that FEDS will be regarded among the best solutions."
About the Bank of Bermuda
Bank of Bermuda is an international financial institution that provides banking, trust, asset management, fund administration and global custody services to its corporate, private and retail clients. Founded in 1889, its global headquarters are in Bermuda, and it has offices or subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Dublin, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Jersey, Luxembourg, New York, New Zealand, and Singapore. It has representative offices in Bahrain and London.
About First Ecom.com
As a global leader in Internet transaction processing, First Ecom.com provides secure, easy-to-implement and low-cost online payment processing services to merchants and banks worldwide. Through strategic partnerships with Banks, ISPs, E-commerce system integrators and storefront solution providers, First Ecom will process credit card transactions made over the Internet in multiple currencies, either domestically or offshore in a tax-neutral jurisdiction. For more information, visit firstecom.com or contact First Ecom.com at 852.2801.5181 or by e-mail at info@firstecom.com.
Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking" statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995). Because such statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
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Contact:
Davis.Comm, Inc. (for First Ecom.com)
Jeff Davis or Kevin Manniko (Media), 415/837-3939
jdavis@daviscomm.com
kmanniko@daviscomm.com
or
for Investor Relations, 888/305-8233 |
