COST-EFFECTIVE AND INNOVATIVE E-PAYMENT SOLUTION BASED ON MICROSOFT EXCEL 2007 INTRODUCED FOR LOCAL SMEs

Key Industry Players advocate e-Payment Solutions for Greater SME Operational Efficiencies and Productivity

Kuala Lumpur, March 17, 2009 – T-Melmax Sdn Bhd, an MSC-status company specializing in state-of-the-art financial applications today launched its latest e-payment product, MaxPaygate Link for Microsoft Excel (MXL), aiming to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of doing business for (Small Medium Enterprises) SMEs throughout the country.

MXL, targeted at SMEs, is a plug-in which runs on Microsoft Excel 2007 that enables companies to easily make payments for their staff salary, statutory payments and supplier payments to the bank via the Internet.

(From L-R):Siti Yuszaina Usop, Manager, Global Profiling and Portfolio Management, Software and eSolutions, MDeC; Abdul Mushir Che Chik, CEO, T-Melmax; Tyson Dowd, Senior Director, Local Software Economy, Microsoft Malaysia; Ravi Gopal, Director/Head, Cash Management, CIMB Investment Bank; and Husni Salleh, CEO, MAVCAP.

The software, made possible through the interoperability elements of the ISO Standard known as Office Open XML, is available to SMEs without upfront licensing costs and customers will only be charged based on usage. Originally developed by Microsoft Corporation, the Office Open XML format is a standard for word-processing documents, presentations and spreadsheets that is intended to be implemented by multiple applications on multiple platforms.

MXL, in turn, was created based on this ISO standard and is a solution aimed at improving SME efficiencies while helping them realise cost-savings through and beyond the current economic climate. This innovative solution was developed by bumiputra company T-Melmax, an investee company of Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd (MAVCAP). MAVCAP is Malaysia’s largest technology focused venture capital (VC) firm with investments in sectors that focus on information, communications and technology (ICT) and other high-growth industries.

“We must be consistent with the changing environment. Staying abreast with change and competition means streamlining processes to become more efficient. E-payments can vastly improve productivity and reduce the cost of doing business,” said Husni Salleh, CEO of MAVCAP. “These benefits become even more apparent during these challenging economic times, and we believe T-Melmax and this pioneering solution will be of great assistance to SMEs,” he added.

Abdul Mushir Che Chik, CEO of T-Melmax, says that from their extensive market surveys, statistics indicate that a large portion of SMEs have not adopted ICT due to costs and lack of IT expertise but many are open to the idea if there is no major investment involved and the solution is easy to use. “Most SMEs that we talk to are familiar with Microsoft Windows and Excel, thus developing our e-payment solution on this industry-standard platform makes a lot of business sense to our customers; there’s no re-learning needed,” he said. “Our partnership with Microsoft to introduce innovative technologies such as MXL will strengthen our brand and we hope to be listed on Bursa Malaysia in the next one year.”

Technology provider Microsoft expressed that the country’s SMEs are the cornerstone of the Malaysian economy and that the world’s largest IT company is committed to support Malaysian SMEs by providing not just guidance but also the tools and technologies that are already of international industry standards.

Its Senior Director of Local Software Economy, Tyson Dowd, said that Microsoft is pleased to assist local SMEs enhance competitiveness and create business growth through the effective use of technology.

“What is remarkable about T-Melmax’s MXL solution is that, by leveraging on the ISO Office Open XML standard, the solution has this ability to store and manage business data in documents – resulting in lower cost of automating business processes and, at the same time, enhancing global competitiveness of local SMEs,” said Dowd.

“Long and short of it all, what is being done here really does engage at a fundamental level with the Malaysian economy and the very cornerstone of which it is based on – our SME community,” he added.

In the tabling of the RM60 billion second stimulus package, the Malaysian Government had earmarked SMEs as playing “an important role in generating economic growth and creating employment opportunities” with the SME community “comprising 99% of total registered businesses in Malaysia, and contributing 56% to total employment and accounting for 32% of Malaysia’s GDP.”

“Microsoft’s charter here is to further help local SMEs and our two main strategies are straightforward: It is to help companies save money, and to help companies innovate out of the current challenging economic climate,” Dowd further said.

Meanwhile, CIMB Bank, the winner of Asiamoney’s Best Cash Management Bank award in Malaysia and recently, the Rising Star Cash Management Bank by The Asset, is also joining the fold as T-Melmax’s first banking partner for this innovative e-payment service.

According to Ravi Gopal, Head of Cash Management at CIMB, the solution serves as a user-friendly tool for customers to connect to the bank. “MXL is a win-win situation for us and our customers. It assists us in delivering a seamless low cost solution according to the needs of our customers. The MaxPaygate solution is an existing secure interface that has been established with T-Melmax and we are confident that our customers will enjoy a safe e-payment experience”.

Rizatuddin Ramli, General Manager, Global Profiling and Portfolio Management, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), says this is key example of digital exchange working for the masses, where before, transition from paper-based payments to electronic payments was challenging due to infrastructure costs, business processes and users’ confidence. Today, by leveraging on competitively telecommunications, innovative idea and on modern market-based systems, SMEs can benefit from cumulative efforts done by these providers. MDeC congratulates the parties involved in this collaboration, and hopes to see more innovative products being developed and subsequently drive e-payment usage in and between SMEs as well as public at large.

Recognising the business value of MXL for improving efficiency and reducing the cost of doing business, five pioneering customers have signed on and adopted the e-payment solution:
· Balpe Gateway Sdn Bhd
· BCC Technology Sdn Bhd
· Damaris Resources Sdn Bhd
· XDM Systems Sdn Bhd
· Xynapse Sdn Bhd