Asia Payments owns 60% of ETOP Malaysia with the other partners being Seacare Holdings of Singapore, an investment holding company with interests in various countries in Asia, and KC Yap, a Malaysian entrepreneur.
The new subsidiary will recruit 2,000 retailers as authorized ETOP dealers who will be supplied with electronic terminals that permit the downloading of prepaid stock on an online, real-time basis. Asia Payments’ online system will also permit real-time management of dealer inventories and credit limits.
KK Ng, Asia Payments’ president and CEO, commented: ETOP Malaysia will be Asia Payments’ flagship operation in its prepaid business segment.
Prepaid products, such as telecom services for cellular and long distance calls, gift cards, entertainment and transportation tickets, as well as cash cards, are in high demand in Asia, and are especially attractive for vendors when distributed and sold to consumers via electronic systems such as ours.
Mr Ng said that initial revenues are expected in the third quarter of this year and that the company estimates that ETOP Malaysia will generate significant sales volumes in the first full year of operations and continue to double its annual volume each year over the first few years.
