Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1073679
17 COMMERCIAL maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 23 JANUARY 2019 CREDORAX, a Malta-based leading smart acquiring bank- ing firm, has announced a new partnership with eCabs – Mal- ta's leading, tech-driven mini- cab company. Credorax's pro- prietary cross-border acquiring technology platform will en- able eCabs to provide seamless payment services in its mobile app, hence increasing approval rates. ECabs is Malta's leading, tech-driven transportation company, dominating the market because of its embrace of technology and reputation for excellent customer ser- vice. Similarly, Credorax has built a global reputation for its tech-first approach to bank- ing, which has fueled 2000% growth since 2012 and the de- velopment of market-leading services, such as the fastest gateway on the market and an onboarding process that takes 24-48 hours instead of weeks. It's this embrace of technolo- gy, coupled with their shared Maltese DNA that makes the partnership of these two com- panies so effective. Credorax's payment tech- nology stems from its ability to be both a hi-tech compa- ny and a fully licensed bank, enabling eCabs to leverage Credorax's suite of smart ac- quiring tools. Credorax uses its advanced business intelli- gence (BI) and agile reporting tools to analyse every trans- action, increasing approval rates and revenues for eCabs. "We chose Credorax as our payment partner as we share a common vision and ethos in how technology is applied in the business domain with agility and confidence be- ing the key success factors," said Matthew Bezzina, CEO of eCabs. "In this context, we have integrated Credorax payment services in our new mobile app delivering the most fast, transparent, secure and responsive transporta- tion application available on the island." "We are delighted to be working with eCabs, with whom we share not only a location but also a shared vi- sion of simple payments," said Geert van Maarssevee, Vice President Sales and Business Development at Credorax. "Our ability to process and analyze payments quickly and efficiently and to provide ad- vanced BI tools makes this an ideal collaboration to imple- ment our diverse payment so- lutions." Credorax partners with eCabs to ensure frictionless payments transactions THE strategic partnership be- tween Dubai's two airlines, Emirates and flydubai, contin- ues to open up the world for travellers since its launch 14 months ago, and is set to grow even further in 2019 with new codeshare destinations to be added. The partnership, which came into effect at the end of Octo- ber 2017, has since delivered a number of benefits to both airlines' customers, such as of- fering greater global connectiv- ity through more destination choices, flexibility with flight options when planning trips, one integrated loyalty pro- gramme, and the convenience of travelling on a single ticket with seamless point to point baggage handling. Between January and De- cember 2018, the two airlines have jointly carried 3.29 mil- lion customers on codeshare flights across 84 destinations, which include popular tour- ism and adventure destinations such as Bucharest, Kathmandu and Zanzibar, amongst many others. Through the codeshare partnership, Emirates custom- ers can access 67 additional destinations through flydubai's network, while flydubai cus- tomers have 115 additional des- tinations they can travel to on Emirates network. The partnership started with codeshare flights to just 29 cit- ies, and has since expanded to 84, including new flydubai des- tinations such as Catania, Kra- kow, Dubrovnik and also Hel- sinki. During 2019 the network of codeshare flights will be fur- ther expanded, with the launch of new flydubai destinations Naples and Budapest, as well as several others that will be announced in due course. Fly- dubai flights to Chittagong also restarted from 20 January, while flights to Kozhikode, Kerala, will start from 1 February. To provide customers with an easy way to accrue and redeem air miles, flydubai adopted Emirates Skywards as its pro- gramme in August last year. The alignment of the loyalty programme allows Emirates Skywards members to earn Skywards Miles and Tier Miles and enjoy shared travel benefits when flying across the com- bined networks. Since August 2018, over 125,000 Skywards members have flown and earned almost 300 million Skywards Miles on flydubai. Skywards members have also been active in using their Miles to partially or fully pay for over 10,000 flydubai tickets. Members earn the same cur- rency with both airlines, so they can reach rewards faster and more easily rise through the tiers of the programme. Mem- bers enjoy even more privileges as they move through the mem- bership tiers - they earn bonus Miles, can use Business Class check-in desks when flying Economy Class, and enjoy extra baggage plus priority baggage delivery. Currently, the combined net- works of Emirates and flydubai is 216, which by 2022, is expect- ed to reach 240 destinations, offering customers across the world far reaching global con- nectivity via Dubai. Emirates and flydubai partnership reaches new heights ON 8 January, BNI® – the world's biggest and best business refer- ral organisation – celebrated its 34th anniversary in business. "In some ways, it seems like just yesterday and in other ways it's hard to believe it's been that long," said BNI Founder Ivan Misner. "Either way, I am proud that we have had 34 years of consecutive growth worldwide in BNI. Very few companies in the world can say that." For the sixth consecutive year, BNI Malta is holding the Nation- al Networking Day on Wednes- day 30 January 2019, a few days ahead of International Network- ing Week™, a worldwide initia- tive established of BNI and an opportunity for members and their guests to benefit from a larger business network. The goal of this initiative is to celebrate the key role that busi- ness referrals resulting from networking play in the develop- ment and success of businesses in Malta and across the world. The event will consist of an early morning meeting starting at 7am at The Palace Hotel in Slie- ma bringing together represent- atives of various businesses and community leaders to network practically with others. Speak- ers, including a video by BNI Founder Ivan Misner, will offer advice and information on how businesses can further grow and succeed through good network- ing practices. Local businesses seeking to establish in other countries can also find the support of BNI, as once one becomes a BNI mem- ber in a country, that member has access to nearly 250,000 passionate business leaders over 9,000 chapters across 70 coun- tries across the world. In the past 12 months, BNI members passed 10.4 million business re- ferrals worth over 15.5 billion US dollars worth of business for each other. Invitations to attend on 30th January are open to the wider business community, members of other networking organiza- tions, students, media repre- sentatives and interested par- ties from all types of businesses whether in the services or manu- facturing sectors. Following a 3,400 response survey among business people around the world, Misner iden- tified the top characteristics of what people believe makes a great networker. Being a good listener, having a positive atti- tude, and helping others by be- ing collaborative, along with be- ing sincere and trustworthy are essential. Misner says: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Helping people, shows that you care. Only then will you suc- ceed in creating a powerful and diverse network that can benefit your business." "BNI Malta has five chapters. We are encouraging our mem- bers to bring visitors to this an- nual event to create even more opportunities for increased net- working, valuable training and the opportunity to pass and re- ceive quality business referrals. And if you have not yet expe- rienced BNI for yourself, I per- sonally invite you to attend our event on 30th January," said BNI Malta's National Director David Bullock. Registration for the annual BNI Networking Day in Malta opens at 6.30am, with the event start- ing at 7am and ending around 9am, but it is ideal to allocate up to 10.30am for post-event net- working. Participants can stay on to do 1-2-1 meetings with other participants they would have met for the first time. It is recommended that one brings along at least 100 busi- ness cards. Participation fee, in- cluding breakfast, is €10. BNI National Networking Day set for 30 January Participants at last year's annual networking event in Malta