PayPal and Maxis announce partnership
PayPal has teamed up with Maxis, one of Malaysia's largest telecommunications providers, to bring mobile payment solutions to the telco's more than 12 million customers. The partnership will include the creation of new Maxis-PayPal accounts that allow users to pay for goods and services over their mobile or online. According to a statement from the companies, the collaboration is a first between a mobile network operator and a global online payments provider. More than 50% of Maxis's customers are active mobile data users.
"Today, the user experience online is cumbersome as customers are required to repeatedly fill in payment card and contact details for each transaction or merchant," said Jean-Pascal Van Overbeke, Maxis chief operating officer, in a statement. "The collaboration between Maxis and PayPal will enable consistent and simple purchase experiences for all Maxis customers in Malaysia. It will also enable small businesses -- now everybody can not only pay easily but sell easily."
Boosting online payment options for small and medium-size companies is one of PayPal's objectives as it expands in Asia. Kerry Wong, general manager of PayPal Hong Kong and Taiwan, recently described how the company's partnership with Taiwantrade provided buyers and sellers with a more cost effective means to pay for merchandise samples online, giving Taiwanese merchants another method to boost sales.
Earlier this year, PayPal also announced a partnership with the Malaysian online market place Mudah.my.
US exports to China on the rise
China's importation of US goods rose by 46.6% in the first quarter according to the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. These figures are part of an overall 16.7% increase in goods and services exported by the US during the period; other countries in Asia also posted significant increases in imports from across the Pacific including an 80% rise in Taiwan, 66.2% in South Korea and 49.2% in Malaysia.
"This is a great progress report; what it really says is that there are significant opportunities globally for both large and small US businesses," said Fred P Hochberg, chairman and president of the Export and Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) of the United States, in a statement. "Ex-Im Bank already is very active in Asia and the Pacific Rim, but major opportunities exist for US companies to break into or expand business in that region, backed by Ex-Im Bank financing."
SAP releases new business solution
Germany-based software consulting and development company SAP announced the availability of a new customer-centric solution called SAP Business ByDesign. The product is specifically designed for medium-sized companies and is a comprehensive, fully integrated on-demand business software suite that enables users to easily and quickly start running the vendor's offering of end-to-end business processes, while leaving the option to gradually deploy the full integrated suite at their own pace.
"With the upcoming innovations in SAP Business ByDesign, we aim to make a huge step forward in scalability and innovation while we enable our users to collaborate, more effectively make better decisions and improve their productivity," said Peter Lorenz, executive vice-president of small and mid-sized enterprises and corporate officer of the SAP Group, in a statement. "These advancements will further increase the value that SAP Business ByDesign delivers to customers and support the aggressive growth strategies of mid-size companies."
SAP's new solution is available in China and India in Asia-Pacific and in the US, UK, France and Germany. Additional countries are planned to be added in early 2011.
