(October 2 – 11:00 ET) – Royal Bank of Canada today announced it has joined IBM and Fluor Corp. in the creation of a global electronic procurement market that will allow businesses worldwide to purchase supplies and capital goods over the Internet.
Royal Bank will acquire an equity stake in the new venture, to be known as TradeMC, and has been chosen the company’s preferred global provider of Internet-based financial services. TradeMC will provide end-to-end procurement solutions through online collaboration, focused on indirect supplies and capital goods such as office equipment and mobile phone services. It expects the system to produce cost savings for its customers.
As part of the agreement, Royal Bank is committed to contributing internal procurement spending to the marketplace. “TradeMC represents a significant step in the evolution of Royal Bank’s B2B eBusiness services. It also solidifies our position as a global provider of Internet-based financial services for business,” said Tom Wolf, senior vice president, eBusiness. “Liquidity is the key to success in an e- marketplace and TradeMC’s ability to attract blue chip companies with large spends represents a unique competitive advantage over other marketplaces.”
Royal Bank will leverage its existing investment with Mediagrif Interactive Technologies focused on building industry-focused or vertical marketplaces, enabling Royal Bank to offer a complete e-procurement solution. It will also use its correspondent banking relationships with other banks globally so they can offer the service to their customers.
This announcement comes on the heels of one last week trumpeting the collaboration of Bank of Nova Scotia and CIBC in creating an online B2B marketplace with Bell Canada and BCE Emergis. Several months ago TD Bank was first out of the blocks with its TD MarketSite.
-IE Staff