FECC First Ecom.com is trading nicely today, last at $7.00 on good volume. Following is information on the company that I have found through various sources.
Here is a link and bits of information from a research fact sheet in PDF downloadable format from the FECC website.
firstecom.com
HIGHLIGHTS
- The only full service provider of low-cost credit card transaction processing for merchants operating outside of North America.
- Unique global access to the First Data Corporation electronic "gateway" used for virtually all processing of credit data and funds verification outside the United States.
- A completely autonomous merchant approval process that removes the necessity for involvement by domestic U.S. banking institutions and streamlines the merchant approval process.
- Strategic agreements with leading ecommerce transaction providers to facilitate early adoption of First Ecom.com's credit processing system.
- Transaction processing carried out in a tax neutral territory alleviating hurdles for International merchants such as reporting, foreign incorporation, compliance, and/or taxation.
- Positioned for processing online credit transactions in native currencies using real-time conversion mechanisms.
- No meaningful competition outside of North America.
- Market development lead of approximately one year over any participant entering the international credit transaction sector.
- Significant pent-up demand for services as a result of the lack of infrastructure for ecommerce outside of North America.
- International management team with senior level development experience in international Internet infrastructure, ecommerce, credit processing and electronic bill payment and presentment.
- The potential to become the dominant online credit card transaction processor in areas targeted for development.
A NEW MODEL
First Ecom.com has developed a low-cost credit processing system accessible to nearly all international merchants. Through an arrangement with a leading bank outside of the U.S., and proprietary processing systems, the company can approve merchants and carry out credit card transactions directly. The bank supporting the system is one of very few utilizing First Data Corporation's "Gateway" for credit card data outside North America. First Data is the processor of 60% of all credit card transactions nationally and
nearly all ecommerce transactions worldwide. Under this arrangement, transactions are processed outside the U.S. in a tax neutral jurisdiction. Merchant clients no longer need to use a U.S. based ISP, establish relations with U.S. banks, or subject themselves to U.S. compliance or taxation. As envisioned, First Ecom.com will also have the ability to process multi-currency transactions. First Ecom.com offers an autonomous, end-to-end credit card transaction service for merchants outside North America.
OUTLOOK
The company is in an enviable position in the ecommerce marketplace. With no meaningful competition in processing transactions outside of North America, First Ecom.com has the opportunity to quickly entrench its services as the pathway for companies carrying out ecommerce internationally. The company has targeted regions where the development of the Internet has lagged behind and are now expanding rapidly. Some, such as Asia, are expected to double in usage within a year. The demand for this credit processing service is overwhelming. This, combined with the added benefits of efficiently carrying out approvals and low-cost transactions make the prospects for the company very strong.
First Ecom.com has joined forces with the leading proponents of ecommerce including, U.S. Web, Asia Internet Limited, Financial Institution partners and others to ensure the delivery of its new system. Logically, these strategic partners should become a major source of referrals, since they stand to profit from each transaction. The international management team is familiar with Internet infra-structure and has the proven ability to build companies to a market leading position. Like other companies opening new applications for the Internet, First Ecom.com is in a position to act quickly and earn a dominant position. Even moderate success in the front run-ning role for international credit card processing could result in exponential growth and outstanding potential value.
FECC Management team bios, I've included this as management is impressive for a start-up
Gregory M. Pek, President and Chief Executive Officer
Gregory M. Pek is a director, President and CEO of FEC. From March 1994 to February 1999 Mr. Pek has been an executive director of companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. As executive director Mr. Pek has been involved in various equity issues aggregating approximately HK$1.5 billion. Prior to moving to Hong Kong, Mr. Pek was a director and officer of a number of public companies in Canada. Mr. Pek has broad business experience in manufacturing, marketing, finance, regulatory issues (in the United States, Canada and Hong Kong), and acquisitions. Prior to his career in business, Mr. Pek was a Chartered Accountant, working first with Clarkson Gordon (now Ernst & Young), and then operating his own accountancy firm in Canada.
Ravi K. Daswani, Senior Vice President
Ravi Daswani is a director, Senior Vice-president and COO of FEC. From December 1997 to January 1999 Mr. Daswani was the Managing Director and owner of Asia Internet Limited, a Hong Kong ISP which today is one of the fastest growing web hosting companies in Hong Kong. During his tenure with Asia Internet Mr Daswani helped establish Sing Web Pte Ltd , a Singapore based IPP. Mr. Daswani has been a businessman for over 10 years. He has established international operations trading in dry goods, consumer electronics, apparel and Internet services. He has established businesses in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Ermanno Pascutto, Director of Administration
Ermanno Pascutto is a director of FEC. Mr. Pascutto is a Canadian and Hong Kong lawyer with extensive experience in securities regulation and corporate governance. Mr. Pascutto is a former Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") where, among other things, he was involved in all aspects of the regulation of listed companies. Prior to his five years with the SFC, he was Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Ontario Securities Commission "OSC"), the leading securities agency in Canada. During his six years with the OSC he had oversight of public financings, mergers and acquisitions, enforcement and capital markets regulation. Mr. Pascutto also spent several years as Director of Market Policy with the Toronto Stock Exchange. He currently practices law in the Toronto and Hong Kong offices of Goodman Phillips & Vineberg as a senior partner.
Matte Mecke, Senior Vice President, Systems and Product Development
Matt Mecke is Senior Vice President of Systems and Product Development for FEC. Prior to joining FEC, Mr. Mecke was a Management Executive of First Data Asia in Hong Kong. In his position with First Data in Asia, Mr. Mecke's responsibilities included Strategic Planning, New Business Development, Ecommerce applications, and pricing. Mr. Mecke is the chief architect of the Company's systems, and will develop and evaluate future projects including online bill payment and presentment and the potential for future processing services.
Philli Baldwin, Director of Business Development
Phillip Baldwin is Director of Business Development of FEC. Prior to joining FEC Mr. Baldwin was the General Manager, Director and COO of The Coleridge Group Limited in Hong Kong. The Coleridge Group is a multi-media and web solutions company in Hong Kong with a blue chip client base. Before joining The Coleridge Group Mr. Baldwin had his own media and sports promotions company. Mr. Baldwin also held senior sales and marketing positions with Dow Jones and News Corporation's Star TV.
Following is an interview by a European Fund manager who is bullish on FECC. (This is unsubstantiated as it came from the raging Bull thread)
German Broker Analyst DAC Fonds UI - FECC Target 11 EuroFirst eCom.com
Question: You added stock of relatively unknown company FirsteCom.com to your securities account. The company's name indicates that it is internet based firm. Which field of business are we dealing in?
A. Maydorn: First eCom.com is a credit card service provider from HongKong. The company allows e-commerce operations from outside US a comparably inexpensive and easy settlement using credi cards. At the present time it is especially for internet vendors in Asia rather expensive to settle online sales over credit cards, since this requires the cooperation of an American bank. In some cases, e-commerce companies pay up to 15% of their sales as fees for the online sale via credit card. A settlement through First eCom.com reduces these fees to a normal rate of 5% with First eCom.com earning approximately 1%
Question: How many clients does the company have at this point?
A. Maydorn: First eCom.com is currently in test phase with some online vendors in HongKong including a telephone provider. This test phase will conclude in May. Already at this point there are many inquiries of other e-commerce operators. We also conducted first talks with renowned companies as US Web.
Question: What potential do you see for the stocks, and up to which price would you recommend to buy.
A. Maydorn: The company is still in startup phase but we have found an interesting niche. At this point in time we don't know weather the concept will be successful and we also do not know when or if potential competitors will enter market. The stocks are certainly highly speculative but also highly promising. If the business is successful during coming months the price might well double. Currently the stocks are quoted in Berlin with approximately 5.5 Euro and should be limited to approximately 6 Euro. We would recommend buying First eCom.com directly from the main stock exchange in the US since sales are considerably higher there
This is a quote from Cody Cain of US Web, per news release Mar 23, 1999
"We are excited about this opportunity to work with Peoples Phone and First Ecom as this is the first project of its kind in Asia," said Cody Cain, Partner at USWeb/CKS Asia Pacific. "The FEC platform enables Asian merchants for the first time to accept credit cards over the internet. This project offers an excellent opportunity for USWeb/CKS to put our extensive ecommerce expertise to work in the Asian market, and we expect this to be just the first of many such projects for USWeb/CKS."
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