| BMO
Harris ePurchasing Solutions Announces Global Partnerships with Leading
Banks
Banks in China, France, Australia, Japan and Malaysia join Royal Bank of
Scotland, Nordea and Banco Santander as BMO Harris Partners, Offering Clients
Service in Five Continents
TORONTO,
November 7, 2007 – BMO Harris ePurchasing Solutions, a
leading North American provider of advanced commercial card solutions,
today announced global alliances with five new banks, allowing its customers
to conduct business in additional countries and continents. The deals
expand the BMO Harris global footprint to five continents.
BMO Harris ePurchasing Solutions recently reached agreements with the
following banks:
- China Merchants
Bank, China
- Commonwealth
Bank, Australia
- Credit Saison,
Japan
- United Overseas
Bank, Malaysia
- Crédit Mutuel, France
BMO Harris is continually growing its global capabilities by developing
alliances with leading institutions around the world. This
association allows BMO Harris to provide an unparalleled worldwide
network
with local support banks, making it possible to globally
service corporate
card
accounts virtually anywhere.
This allows BMO Harris customers – who are among the leaders in
today's global economy – to conduct business more
efficiently and effectively worldwide. Through BMO Harris
details Online, their proprietary
global database for reporting, analysis, and management,
clients have the ability to review spend by both individual
country and a worldwide
rollup in a single currency. The suite of global reports
provide customers greater expense oversight, streamlined
activities, and better cash flow
for their business transactions at home, and increasingly,
abroad.
"Our MasterCard commercial card programs provide our customers wider acceptance
not only in North America but around the globe,'' said
Terry Wellesley, Managing Director of BMO Harris ePurchasing Solutions. "We
have partnered with the leading banks, in the nations where
our customers
are doing business, so we can continue to offer the strongest
and most robust commercial card program available in the
industry. The BMO Harris
name continues to grow as we expand our global network."
The banks join the Royal Bank of Scotland (United Kingdom),
Nordea (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) and Banco
Santander (Chile)
in BMO Harris'
global commercial card network.
About BMO Harris ePurchasing Solutions
BMO Harris ePurchasing Solutions is a leading North American
provider of advanced commercial card solutions that integrate
customized end-to-end
electronic procurement and travel and expense management
to public and private sector organizations. BMO Harris'
client-centric approach utilizes
leading technology to customize solutions that directly
contribute to an organization's financial performance.
One of the top
10
commercial card issuers in North America, BMO Harris e-purchasing
provides more
than 87,000 companies a single-source option for their
commercial card programs.
About China Merchants Bank
China Merchants Bank is the first share-holding commercial
bank wholly owned by corporate legal entities and the first
domestically
listed
company that passed an external auditing appraisal, based
on the international accounting standard. At present, the
total
assets of China Merchants
Bank are above 1000 billion RMB, and it is ranked in the
top 101 among "the
world 1000 banks" by The Banker. CMB has a leading
and fast growing credit card business with more than 30
percent of market share and more
than 15 million dual-currency cards issued in China.
About the Commonwealth Bank
With a market capitalization in excess of $AUD 70 billion,
the Commonwealth Bank (Group) is Australia’s largest
financial institution and offers a full range of financial
services including retail, business and institutional
banking, funds management, superannuation, general and
life insurance, brokerage services and finance company
activities.
About Credit Saison
Credit Saison Co., Ltd. offers sales credit, loans, merchandise
sales, and travel and entertainment in Japan. It has 9
consolidated subsidiaries
and ranks among Japan's top credit card companies, with
cards issued totaling 24,910,000 as of March 31, 2007.
Credit Saison
is affiliated
with Mizuho Financial Group.
About United Overseas Bank (Malaysia)
United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd ["UOB (Malaysia)"] is a
subsidiary of United Overseas Bank Limited ("UOB"),
a leading bank in Singapore with a global network of more
than 500 branches/offices
and subsidiaries/associates in 18 countries and territories
in Asia-Pacific, Western Europe and North America. UOB
(Malaysia) offers an extensive
range of commercial and personal financial services through
its branches as well as through its subsidiaries and associate
companies.
About Crédit Mutuel – CIC Group
France's second-largest retail bank, the Crédit Mutuel group is
made up of the Crédit Mutuel network and its subsidiaries, among
them CIC. Crédit Mutuel combines its extensive presence, with
those of CIC, a commercial bank with 40 offices outside of France. Issuing
commercial cards for 20 years, Crédit Mutuel - CIC is the market
leader in French MasterCard corporate programs. The first European bank
to be CDF certified, Crédit Mutuel - CIC has created
a dedicated Corporate Cards Centre of Excellence supporting
corporate and public
sector customers and developed its own web-based program
management tool.
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For Media Enquiries:
Canada
Ralph Marranca, Toronto, ralph.marranca@bmo.com,
(416) 867-3996
United States
Michael
G. Ettlemyer, mettlemyer@environics-usa.com, (203) 325-8772 ext. 15 |