One of the problems inherent in business-to-business online trading is the lack of trust between buyers and sellers that do not have an existing relationship.
Aucxis Corp. and eCredible Ltd. are providing platforms that guarantee payment for sellers by ensuring a financially guaranteed buyer, thus reducing the risk of conducting online transactions.
Aucxis Real-Time Commerce Platform Version 1.0 guarantees payments in an e-marketplace setting, company officials said. The Toronto company last week said it is teaming up with services giant Electronic Data Systems Corp. to ease installation of the Aucxis eFinance Hub, the core component of Real-Time Commerce Platform. eCredible, a Swiss credit management applications provider, this month staked a claim in the United States by opening offices in Denver and Baltimore.
eCredible allows corporations to offer open account services to private online exchange customers. Through customer management technology such as its extensive online credit verification system and global buyer database, the company authenticates prospective buyers in an exchange environment.
When a buyer is approved for coverage initially, eCredible issues it an online credit certificate—similar to a credit card—and backs it with the eCredible Payment Guarantee. Any subsequent transactions made by the buyer can be approved in real time, according to company officials.
eCredible is a spinoff of Swiss Reinsurance Co., a large credit insurer. Both companies are based in Bern.
Aucxis, a subsidiary of e-Auction Global Trading Inc., provides real-time trading and financial technologies to e-marketplaces.
Real-Time Commerce Platform includes several modules, at the center of which is Aucxis eFinance Hub. Additional modules include Aucxis Trading Technology, Aucxis Mobile Gateway and Aucxis Integration Studio.
At the core of eFinance Hub is Collateral Management Module—developed in conjunction with the Dutch bank ABN AMRO Holding N.V.—which is, in effect, a digital payment guarantee. Its credit reservation system links what Aucxis terms “digital procurement tokens” to marketplace transactions by securing reservations against financial instruments such as cash, lines of credit, bank guarantees and letters of credit.
Hub can be accessed from a standard Web browser or a Wireless Application Protocol-enabled device that is hooked into Aucxis Mobile Gateway.
EDS, of Plano, Texas, will provide hosting and network management infrastructure for eFinance Hub. It will also provide systems integration services.
Genencor International Inc., a specialty biological chemicals manufacturer in Rochester, N.Y., is looking to set up a B2B trading exchange and said it believes risk management is an important consideration.
Genencor would consider using a service like Aucxis “if they are willing to take on a client receivable [valued] in the millions of dollars,” said Barbara Kroll, director of customer relations.
“If they limit receivables to small dollar amounts it” wouldnt be worth her time, Kroll said.