KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 23): GHL Systems Bhd has signed an agreement to provide payment facilitator or third party acquisition (TPA) services to CIMB Bank Bhd.
Under the agreement, GHL will seek to acquire between 3,000 and 4,000 merchants on behalf of CIMB Bank in the first year. These merchants will then be able to accept payments from the various International Card Associations.
“Revenue earned by GHL is derived from terminal rental and merchant discount rates, which will continue as long as GHL signs-up merchants for card acceptance as a TPA with CIMB Bank,” said GHL in a statement today.
It said the strategy going forward will involve the deployment of conventional electronic data capture terminals and mobile point of sales devices as well as e-Commerce.
GHL will also offer e-pay services, such as mobile prepaid reload and bill payment collection services, to these merchants as value-added services.
“This will be truly unique to GHL, as it will be the only company in Malaysia to be able to offer small and middle enterprise (SME) merchants cashless payment acceptance as well as the ability to earn additional revenue via e-pay products and services,” said GHL.
“CIMB Bank has a strong presence in the smaller enterprise segment of the SME market and this initiative will enable both CIMB Bank and GHL to increase our penetration into this segment. This collaboration closely follows GHL’s other deals in Thailand and the Philippines, in line with GHL’s objective of becoming ASEAN’s largest merchant acquirer,” said GHL group chief executive officer Raj Lorenz.
“In addition to this, the tie-up is aligned with BNM’s objective of increasing cashless payment acceptance points to its target of 800,000 payment devices by 2020,” Lorenz added.
Meanwhile, CIMB Bank head of consumer banking Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir, in the same statement, said CIMB’s tie-up with GHL is a positive move towards moving in line with the nation's call to promote economic efficiency by shifting from a cash-heavy society to embracing electronic payments as a main medium of doing business.
“It is vital that we leverage on specialised business partners such as GHL, who are focused on this niche area, for a more cost effective transition. We aim to broaden the accessibility and affordability of e-payment services to different consumer and business segments. I am positive by coupling CIMB Bank’s suite of products with GHL’s dedicated sales personnel, it is a step forward for both our firms as well as our customers,” added Sulaiman.
GHL (fundamental: 1.2; valuation: 0.2) closed unchanged at RM1.16 today, with a market capitalisation of RM745.6 million.
(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)