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Visa, ICICI Bank and Elcom Systems Ltd on 17th April, announced the launch of the Visa eMarketplace, an online portal that connects sellers and buyers of commercial goods and services. Visa eMarketplace makes it possible for businesses in India to conduct the entire procurement and payment transaction electronically and efficiently over the internet using a Visa Purchasing Card. This is the first Visa eMarketplace service to be launched in Asia Pacific.

Santanu Mukherjee, country manager, South Asia, Visa International, said, “Visa eMarketplace is designed to be an efficient, seamless and transparent procurement system for the commercial and government sectors. We are proud to partner with ICICI Bank and Elcom to provide this service.” William Lock, Chairman, Elcom Systems Ltd added, “The combination of the Visa payment card with Elcom’s world-class eProcurement Platform improves the procurement process in any organization. Our technology powers some of the most successful eProcurement implementations in the world”.

Sachin Khandelwal, Head – Cards Product Group, ICICI Bank said, “In keeping with our tradition of innovation, ICICI Bank is the first bank in the Asia Pacific region to launch Visa eMarketplace for ICICI Bank’s Purchase Card customers. ICICI Bank Purchase Card and Visa eMarketplace are designed to offer corporates and government organizations a robust, transparent, more economical and secure procure-to-pay solution. Corporates and government departments can use Visa eMarketplace to make purchases online from their suppliers and use ICICI Bank Purchase Card to make payment.”

Visa eMarketplace offers a secure online option that builds on the existing Visa Purchasing Card platform. Sellers can give buyers easy access to their product catalogues while buyers can have better understanding and management of their inventories, for example, by providing purchase analysis to help in the planning of expenses. The records provided also help ensure detailed tracking for audit purposes. Core to Visa eMarketplace is the Visa Purchasing Card which is meant for low-value, high-volume purchase of non-personal goods and services.

Visa eMarketplace is an eProcurement service that does not require participating organizations to invest in hardware, software or continuous upgrades. Visa eMarketplace is a secure system that uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) data encryption to help ensure that information exchanged within Visa eMarketplace is encrypted to prevent unauthorized disclosure.

Moscow Bank of Reconstruction and Development (MBRD) said it is in talks with India’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank for a tie-up to sell products like mortgage loans. MBRD Chairman Sergey Zaytsev said, “We are talking to ICICI Bank. The deal may be finalised soon and we feel this will be a win-win situation for both the banks”. ICICI Bank had set up shop in Russia in 2006 and was second Indian Bank to launch operations here after State Bank of India and Canara Bank opened their joint venture.

Zaytsev said initial discussion with ICICI Bank are in the area of mortgage loans and co-operation can be enhanced to other areas later. To a question on the timeframe by when the agreement would be signed, he said various rounds of discussions have been held and a formal decision is expected soon. Zaytsev said that the tie-up would provide ICICI Bank a facility to expand in various regions of Russia and MBRD has large scale operations across Russia and other CIS countries.

ICICI Bank, India`s second largest bank, announced the launch of the `Global Indian Account` facility. The facility being the first of its kind in India addresses the comprehensive banking needs of Indians moving overseas. These customers, prior to their departure from India, will have a bank kit comprising the host country bank account, debit card and internet banking deliverables, subject to regulatory requirements.

The Global Indian Account facility will be available for Indians moving to UK, US and Canada for work, study or immigration. Customers will have the opportunity to complete the documentation required for the host country account in India itself. Along with this account, they would also get a non-resident rupee account in India, which would facilitate instant money transfers between their host country account and their India account. This would help them manage their India banking requirements when away from India.

Sonjoy Chatterjee, executive director, responsible for corporate & international banking, at ICICI Bank said, “We are leveraging on our international presence to offer a seamless banking service to Indians moving overseas, with access to local banking facilities from the time they enter that country”.

ICICI Bank is India`s largest private sector bank and the second largest bank in the country, with consolidated total assets of USD 115 billion as of Dec. 31, 2007. ICICI Bank`s subsidiaries include India`s leading private sector insurance companies and among its largest securities brokerage firms, mutual funds and private equity firms. ICICI Bank`s presence currently spans 19 countries including India.

Going global is not the only trump card for an international recognition. As many as 11 Indian companies, including the likes of ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel, have made it to a list of 50 ‘Local Dynamos’ for mastering the dynamics of their domestic markets. The 50 firms from the world’s Rapidly Developing Economies (RDEs) are “domestically focused, at least for now, and have devised formidable business models with which to master the intense dynamics of their local markets,” Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) said in a report.

Other Indian companies in the list are two Tata Group entities Indian Hotels and Titan Industries besides Amul, Apollo Hospitals, CavinKare Group, ITC Limited, NIIT, SKS Microfinance and Subhiksha. Apart from Brazil, Russia, India and China, the list also includes companies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, Poland and Thailand.

BCG said the firms were selected on the basis of high growth and business model specifically adapted to the unique challenges posed by RDEs. Observing that the chosen Dynamos target their offerings mainly at the middle class, the study said India has shown that companies can serve the poor profitably if they use “the right approach.” In consumer goods, CavinKare entered the personal care market by selling shampoo in affordable sachets to rural customers. Titan Industries produces more than 70 lakh watches a year. Subhiksha has brought low prices to the lives of many Indians by locating small supermarkets close to customers.