The NOWaccount Revenue Accelerator Program enables small suppliers to compete more effectively by offering extended payment terms to their commercial and government customers, both in the U.S. and abroad, without taking on added risk.
Bongo International, announces that they are the first in their field to accept decentralized P2P currency, Bitcoin. The move to accept Bitcoin confirms Bongo’s innovative approach to international eCommerce. Bongo International currently supports over 60 payment options including VISA, MasterCard, American Express, V Pay, Union Pay and more in addition to the newly introduced Bitcoin.
Bongo International has received PCI-DSS Level 1 Service Provider Certification for payment data security in the eCommerce industry. To ensure certification, Bongo passed a rigorous audit of data storage, encryption measures, network systems, access controls, threat and vulnerability management, monitoring and testing procedures, and security policies. Bongo International, LLC was founded in 2007 to overcome the challenges associated with International Cross Border e-Commerce transactions by both Consumers and Businesses.
Banamex has implemented Transoft’s “OptiCash” software for ATM &
branch cash management. Using analysis of historical demand data,
statistical
algorithms and seasonal fluctuations, Transoft International provides
currency
chain management software solutions for the banking industry. Banamex will
implement the software solution for Citigroup banks throughout Latin
America
to automate cash forecasting, cost balancing, ordering, monitoring and
expense
tracking. Grupo Financiero Banamex is a member of Citigroup and has a
distribution network of more than 1,450 branch offices and 5,800 ATMs
located throughout Mexico.
MBNA’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Al Lerner died Wednesday evening. Reportedly he has been replaced on a temporary basis by MBNA President Charles Cawley. The MBNA Board of Directors will meet next week to name a successor. Mr. Lerner is survived by his wife of 47 years, Norma; his son Randy and his wife Lara; his daughter Nancy and her husband Bill; 7 grandchildren; and the 28,000 people of MBNA.
MIPS Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and network applications, Monday announced the promotion of Kazufumi Nakagami to business development director and country manager for Japan, reporting directly to MIPS Technologies Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations Derek Meyer. Nakagami has more than 17 years’ experience in the semiconductor industry, primarily in the marketing of high-performance processors. In his new position, he is responsible for all Japanese business development operations at MIPS Technologies. Previously, he was the company’s senior marketing manager for Asia.
“I’m delighted to announce Kazufumi’s new responsibilities as business development director and country manager for Japan,” said Meyer. “His work in marketing the MIPS architecture helped make MIPS the de facto standard in 32- and 64-bit digital consumer applications in Asia, and I look forward to his continued success at growing our business in Japan.” “MIPS Technologies is a leader in the digital entertainment market with high-performance, low-power, low-cost solutions for products such as smart cards, set-top boxes, digital televisions and DVDs, and we plan to expand that leadership to other markets including automotive, communications products and office automation,” said Nakagami.
Prior to joining MIPS Technologies, Nakagami spent 11 years as microprocessor marketing manager of Nippon IDT KK (Tokyo). He earned his B.S. degree from Nihon University, Tokyo.
About MIPS Technologies, Inc.
MIPS Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and network applications. The company drives the broadest architectural alliance that is delivering 32- and 64-bit embedded RISC solutions. The company licenses its intellectual property to semiconductor companies, ASIC developers and system OEMs. MIPS Technologies, Inc. and its licensees offer the widest range of robust, scalable processors in standard, custom, semi-custom and application-specific products. Licensees currently include: Alchemy Semiconductor, Inc., Altera Corporation, ATI Technologies, Inc., Atmel Corporation, Broadcom Corporation, Centillium Communications, Inc., Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Ltd., Conexant Systems, Inc., empowerTel Networks, Inc. (formerly known as Lara Technology, Inc.), ESS Technology, Inc., Gemplus International S.A., Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT), inSilicon Corporation, Integrated Telecom Express, Inc.
(ITeX), LSI Logic Corporation, Macronix America, Inc., Metalink, Ltd., Micron Technology, Inc., General Instrument Corporation (acquired by Motorola, Inc.), NEC Corporation, NeoMagic Corporation, NKK Corporation, Palmchip Corporation, Philips Semiconductors International B.V., Quantum Effect Devices, Inc. (acquired by PMC-Sierra, Inc.), QuickLogic Corporation, Sandcraft, Inc., SiByte, Inc. (acquired by Broadcom Corporation), Sony Corporation, Synova, Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, TeraLogic, Inc., Texas Instruments Incorporated, Toshiba Corporation and Excess Bandwidth Corporation (acquired by Virata Corporation). Numerous companies utilize MIPS-based(TM) intellectual property. MIPS Technologies, Inc. is based in Mountain View, Calif., and can be reached at 650/567-5000 or [http://www.mips.com][1].
[1]: http://www.mips.com/
CA-based MIPS Technologies introduced a new smart card architecture and has joined with Gemplus to introduce a new processor based on the new technology. The new ‘SmartMIPS’ architecture is based on 32-bit chips. MIPS also introduced the new ‘MIPS32 4KSc’ smart card core, a high-performance embedded 32-bit processor, jointly defined with Gemplus, that implements the new ‘SmartMIPS’ architecture for ultra-low power advanced smart card applications.The introduction of the ‘MIPS32 4KSc’ smart card core follows the July 2000 announcement by MIPS Technologies and Gemplus to create an architectural standard for next-generation smart card chips. As such, the ‘SmartMIPS’ architecture is optimized for open operating system platforms such as Sun Microsystems’ Java Card technology and Microsoft’s ‘Windows for Smart Card’.
Telscape International, Inc., yesterday announced the launching of a comprehensive Internet strategy to capitalize on the growth and demand for Latin American eCommerce and Internet related services. enableCommerce.com, a standalone entity, is being created to enable companies, including U.S.-based, to penetrate one of the fastest growing and most attractive markets in the world.
Telscape has hired Mr. Ulises Barbosa, an eBanking expert formerly with Banco Santander, to spearhead this effort. Mr. Barbosa will be assisted by other experienced management, which he has recruited, as well as the dedicated efforts of Carlos de Lara and Jose Luis Apan Wong, both of whom have been with Telscape and have extensive Internet and systems integration experience.
Unique Approach to Market
The mission of enableCommerce.com is to become the leading provider of eCommerce outsourcing services for companies worldwide interested in pursuing the Latin American marketplace. Through an electronic business platform (“eBusiness Platform”), enableCommerce.com will assist companies in expanding sales by getting closer to and better understanding their customers, increasing operating efficiencies, improving response times and reducing costs.
The eBusiness Platform will be a high-volume eCommerce transaction processing system developed by enableCommerce.com to allow its business customers to achieve their objectives with reliability, security, scalability, economies of scale and technological adequacy. The Internet is the core of the eBusiness Platform; however, Telscape’s eCommerce strategy is broader and will provide for different means by which a customer may interface electronically with a business through the eBusiness Platform. These customer-facing technologies include, for instance, call centers, faxes, touch-tone phones, pagers, e-mail, kiosks, handheld devices, interactive TVs, smart cards, and the World Wide Web, some of which are being provided by Telscape today. The combination of a robust and flexible network, system security and infrastructure architecture plus the proper Business to Business and Business to Consumer application software, coupled with strong data warehousing capabilities will constitute one of the most advanced eCommerce initiatives focused on the Latin American market. The need for a central and external source for increasingly complex eCommerce projects, which go beyond simple web page design, is evident, and Forrester Research estimates that over 40% of Internet and internal corporate sites will be outsourced by 2002.
However, providing only a mechanism that enables customers to do business electronically with companies is not enough. Telscape either has launched or is developing solutions to two critical aspects of the eCommerce challenge faced by companies desiring to do business in the Latin American market.
1) Facilitate the Redesign of Business Process: A successful eCommerce strategy requires a company to streamline certain internal tasks. Since the eBusiness Platform centralizes the majority of the transaction processing, a high-speed (typically asymmetrical) telecommunications link has to be established between the eBusiness Platform and the business enterprise systems to facilitate the interaction of the company with the eBusiness Platform. In light of the lack of economical and reliable broad band corporate ISP services and last mile services in Latin America, enableCommerce.com’s product offering will include a low cost, high bandwidth, asymmetrical Internet service through satellite. This service will be provided by Telscape’s subsidiary, INTERLINK. For services being provided in Mexico, this product offering will ultimately be supported by Telscape’s fiber optic buildout.
2) Driving Customer Traffic: Customer traffic is key to any Business to Consumer eCommerce initiative and can be driven through advertising provided that the telecommunications and Internet infrastructure is in place to support it, which is not the case in Latin America where the infrastructure is poor and fragmented. enableCommerce.com plans to help its customers drive traffic by leveraging Telscape’s unique telecommunications assets in Latin America. In Mexico, Telscape intends to become an ISP to consumers and businesses through the utilization of its fiber optic network buildout. INTERLINK is a significant Network Service Provider (“NSP”) to ISPs in Latin America and will leverage those relationships to help enableCommerce.com to promote a partnership approach and change the ISPs’ revenue model from dial-up accounts to sell advanced Internet and eCommerce solutions to companies. For instance, either through a direct or partnership approach with ISPs, enableCommerce.com will offer to business customers creative marketing concepts to bundle eCommerce packages with discounted Internet dial-up accounts for their consumers.
Attractive Market
The growth of Internet usage in Latin America is expected to outpace growth of worldwide Internet usage over the next several years. According to Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, the number of Internet users in Latin America is expected to increase from 7 million users at the end of 1997 to 34 million users by the end of 2000. This number could increase substantially with the proliferation of low-cost, non-PC Internet access devices. Latin America is comprised of 23 countries with a total population of 500 million people.
Unique eCommerce and Internet Assets enableCommerce.com will take advantage of the following Telscape strategic assets:
INTERLINK Communications, Inc. owns a satellite teleport facility in Mountain View, California, which has been operational for over fifteen years providing premium satellite communications services. INTERLINK is connected to the Tier One Internet Backbone via an OC-12 SONET fiber optic ring and has been providing high quality, high speed internet access as a NSP to internet service providers, corporations, universities, governments and local carriers throughout North, Central and South America.
Telereunion has begun construction of a state-of-the-art fiber optic long distance network in Mexico. The project is being engineered, furnished, installed and financed by Lucent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LU). In addition, through a recently announced fiber exchange with Avantel, S.A., the network will cover nearly 1,750 kilometers, resulting in a network that will reach 90% of the Mexican population.
Telscape de Mexico is one of the largest providers of complex systems integration solutions in Mexico for more than thirteen years. The Company has in excess of 2,500 commercial customers and a highly trained technical workforce of more than 130 people. Telscape de Mexico has engineered, furnished, installed and managed one of the largest asynchronous transfer mode/internet protocol (“ATM/IP”) metropolitan networks in Latin America for the National University of Mexico. Approximately 22,000 computers, 10,000 voice ports, and the largest NSP and distance learning videoconferencing network in Latin America are connected in a multi-protocol, multi-vendor environment. MS Noticias has been providing bilingual interactive voice response and help desk solutions to the U.S. Embassy through its call center. Through the utilization of Telscape de Mexico’s systems integration expertise, MS Noticias successfully re-engineered in a short period of time the appointment and information processes for nearly 2 million US visa applications per year. The call center provides a key customer-interfacing asset to enableCommerce.com and is a prime example of streamlining a business process consistent with customer requirements.
Management Team
Mr. Barbosa, formerly with Banco Santander in Mexico, has been intimately involved in the development, implementation and management of one of the most successful eBanking initiatives in Latin America. He has more than 13 years of experience developing and managing telecommunications and systems operations primarily for financial institutions. He also developed and implemented a very successfully asymmetrical, broadband satellite Internet and Wide Area Network service in the business environment.
Carlos de Lara founded NSI, a highly evolved, data systems integrator specializing in Wide Area Networks, which was acquired by Telscape in 1997. Mr. de Lara is currently chairman of the subcommittee for eCommerce and Secure Transactions of the National Telecommunications Standardization Committee of Mexico. He is a founding partner and member of the board of directors of the Mexican Association of Multimedia, Info-routes and Information Content (AMMICI), an entity dedicated to the promotion of business-oriented Internet content in Latin America.
Mr. Apan Wong currently manages the Company’s help desk and call center operations in Mexico He was responsible for engineering, furnishing and installing the ATM/IP network mentioned above. Prior to joining Telscape, Mr. Apan Wong served as Regional Telecommunications Manager for Hewlett Packard where he was responsible for the installation and operation of HP’s telecommunications network in the Latin American Region.
Telscape International, Inc. is a fully integrated U.S. based communications company that supplies international voice, video, data and Internet services, via switched and dedicated networks, principally to and from Latin America.
The Company owns and operates a satellite teleport facility in Mountain View, CA, which delivers an array of communications services to customers throughout North, Central and South America. In addition, the Company provides a full range of systems integration and value-added telecommunications services in Mexico to major public and private sector customers. Telereunion, a Telscape subsidiary, is one of a select number of companies that has been granted a facilities-based long distance concession by the Mexican government.