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Online compliance and payment mechanism joins construction industry marketplace
New YORK, NY and MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, June 29, 2000 - TradeCard, Inc., an online international trade transaction network for buyers and sellers, and OneBuild, an online construction materials marketplace, today jointly announced an agreement that will position TradeCard as a payment option on the OneBuild marketplace. The agreement will provide those procuring construction goods on OneBuild a means to settle their trade transactions online in a seamless, paperless way.
"The agreement showcases the symbiotic strengths of the OneBuild and TradeCard systems," said Kurt Cavano, Chairman and CEO of TradeCard. "OneBuild provides the construction industry an unprecedented global network of construction suppliers offering materials, and TradeCard provides the compliance and settlement tools required to pay for them. OneBuild reaches thousands of buyers and sellers globally - exactly the market we want to reach."
Through online marketplaces or one-on-one relationships, buyers and sellers can discover, negotiate and even order online. But until TradeCard, buyers and sellers have had to drop offline to settle in traditional paper-based, time-consuming ways. With TradeCard's patented documentary compliance engine and financial settlement platform, buyers and sellers can now finish the settlement process online without having to change their existing financial institution relationships, for one flat fee per transaction.
Abbas Syed, President and CTO of OneBuild, said: "One Build was created to offer the most comprehensive online resource for the entire supply chain - from manufacturers to distributors to general and specialty contractors - a community that is increasingly turning to the Web to procure construction materials. Now, their unprecedented access to the worldwide providers of these materials is paired with the TradeCard network, allowing them to stay online and purchase those items they have sourced, negotiated and decided to buy. Joining forces is a definite win-win for OneBuild and TradeCard."
How TradeCard Works
In order to use TradeCard's patented transaction system, buyers and sellers must first become approved TradeCard members by completing an online application. To begin a transaction, the buyer creates a purchase order containing the transaction's terms and conditions. This purchase order can be created directly on the TradeCard system, or sent via electronic file from a company's ERP system or an online marketplace.
TradeCard stores the purchase order on its secure, proprietary database, and notifies the seller that an order is pending. The seller can either approve the purchase order electronically, or can negotiate the order with the buyer online. Once both parties have agreed on the terms of the purchase order, it becomes a purchase contract.
At the time of shipment, the seller populates an invoice and packing list on the TradeCard system using either TradeCard's pre-populating tools, or by means of an electronic file. At this point the seller may obtain assurance of payment from a third-party credit insurer. If the order requires inspection, the inspecting party submits an inspection certificate. At the time of delivery a third-party logistics provider submits the incoterm-appropriate proof-of-delivery documents. At any time during this fulfillment phase, either party can submit a request for amendment to the purchase order that will only be effective upon the electronic approval of both parties.
Once all the required documents have been submitted, TradeCard's patented compliance engine automatically verifies that all required terms of the transaction are met by comparing the data of the purchase order with the commercial invoice, packing list and proof of delivery documents. If discrepancies are noted, the buyer and seller can resolve them online.
Once discrepancies, if any, are resolved and compliance is met, a global payment provider electronically transfers funds from the buyer's financial institution to the seller's financial institution, settling the transaction. If necessary, foreign currency exchange services can also be obtained from the global payment provider. TradeCard is an open network; buyers and sellers are not required to open new accounts with other financial institutions. TradeCard and its global payment provider work with buyers' and sellers' existing account relationships.
In addition to these core features, TradeCard members can contract for inspection services, and will be able to contract for pre- and post-export financing, cargo insurance and other value-added services.
About TradeCard
TradeCard is a business-to-business e-commerce infrastructure that enables buyers and sellers to conduct and settle international trade transactions securely over the Internet. By aggregating buyers, sellers and disparate trade service providers, our solution automates and streamlines existing international trade transaction processes, which are complex, paper-based, time-consuming and expensive. Our objective is to provide a secure, reliable, cost-effective and user-friendly solution for conducting and settling international trade transactions.
TradeCard, Inc. is headquartered in New York City with a branch office in Hong Kong, and can be found on the World Wide Web at www.tradecard.com.
About OneBuild
OneBuild is the Construction industry's most comprehensive and easy to use materials marketplace. General Contractors, Specialty Contractors, Manufacturers, Manufacturer Reps, and Distributors can buy and sell the complete range of construction materials and execute their transactions totally online.
OneBuild has been developed for one purpose: to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of buying and selling construction materials. In response to the unique needs and challenges of the construction industry, our team includes construction industry veterans from industry leaders: Morse Diesel, Perini, W.R. Grace, and Armstrong, and a world class technology team including top Internet technology and e-business experts from companies such as Sun Microsystems, Netscape, Priceline.com, SAP America, Intel, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, JP Morgan and Franklin Templeton.
OneBuild is the global B2B construction materials marketplace of choice. OneBuild is the only website providing a total solution to buying and selling commercial construction materials. OneBuild replaces the inefficiencies of paper, phone, and fax-based procurement with the latest Java-based technologies and speed and efficiency of the Internet, lowering your costs and increasing your profits. With one click and a password, vendors and buyers can immediately begin negotiating with confidence using OneBuild's high-trust, fully automated procurement technology.
