Esprit Financial Group, Inc. (Pinksheets: EFGO.Pk) Announces Agreement in Principle with International Express Payment Corp. Serving Over 20 Chinese Banking Institutions
Thursday May 17, 2:30 pm ET
LAS VEGAS, NV, May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Esprit Financial Group, Inc. (PINK SHEETS:EFGO.PK - News) announced today that it has signed an Agreement in Principle with International Express Payment (Jiangxi) Corp. Esprit is to provide advanced electronic funds management services (EM2) to Jiangxi's current customer base and its network of over 20 Chinese-based banks.
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Jiangxi operates a proprietary Chinese based "closed loop payment system" which works similar to a Paypal(TM) type online payment service. Jiangxi, currently has contractual agreements with 21 Chinese based banks, providing internet-enabled payment systems, on their proprietary closed loop payment system. This current closed loop payment system provides services restricted to member banks and merchants whose customers subscribe to Jiangxi system. Currently, services are limited to electronic funds transfer within this closed loop system.
With this new Agreement, Esprit will greatly expand Jiangxi's service capability from a 'closed loop' to an 'open loop' system that can access a much larger pool of international banks and financial institutions. Esprit's Advanced Electronic Funds Management products, particularly EM2 and prepaid branded credit and debit card products greatly add service capabilities in demand by Jiangxi's customers. With Esprit's international financial services capabilities, clients will enjoy a competitive differential advantage versus other China-based 'closed loop' electronic payment providers.
The agreement covers current clients as well as any additional banks that may come on-stream to the current closed loop payment system. The partial list of member banks includes:
- Bank of China
- Bank of Beijing
- Agricultural Bank of China
- ICBC
- China Merchants Bank
- China Everbright Bank
- Industrial Bank Co., Ltd
- China Construction Bank
The agreement specifies that all revenue derived from this agreement will be split on an equal 50%/50% basis between the two parties. Both parties have agreed that this joint project shall commence immediately on execution of the agreement. Forward looking revenue projections for this service shows possible revenue streams on a conservative outlook basis of about 3 million dollars annually to an optimistic outlook of as much as 10 million dollars annually. The evergreen or recurring revenue stream may have a life cycle for as much as 7 to 15 years. We plan on posting our forward looking projections of this joint project in the Town Hall in the near future.
Jack Chang, head of the AEFM division, has said "Esprit will deploy our proprietary EM2 money transfer system onto Jiangxi's existing 'closed loop' network providing a tremendous improvement in service capabilities. Existing Jiangxi customers will still enjoy all the benefits associated with the current system, but will now have a greatly expanded number of payment and funds transfer capabilities on a truly international basis.
Esprit CEO Garr Winters notes; "This is the first of many financial contracts which we anticipate signing as the Company moves forward. This demonstrates proof of concept regarding the capabilities of our new AEFM division headed by Jack Chang. Jiangxi has recognized that our capabilities are right at the leading edge of international funds management, and that there is more to be gained by working with us on a joint venture basis than by trying to build an open international funds network themselves".
Winters added: "With the 2008 Olympics quickly approaching we realize that time is of the essence. We see a huge opportunity and are eager to tap into this surge of new users. Our agreement calls for a rapid forward implementation of the open loop payment system. Jiangxi has confirmed to the Esprit management that the member banks will start actively promoting the EM2 open loop payment system to their customers and Jiangxi will work with Esprit to market these new service capabilities to Jiangxi's installed customer base.
About International Express Payment (Jiangxi) Corp.
Jiangxi is the leading online payment platform in China. Owned and operated by International Express Payment Corporation, it utilizes and integrates the world leading online technology and banking facilities. 21 major banks in China have signed payment agreements with Jiangxi. The company is dedicated to providing secure and efficient customer services for online payment transaction and has established operational strategic partnerships with these financial institutions offering online payment services. Jiangxi services currently cover over 2.7 billion domestic and international bank cards.
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