BEIJING, June 2 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- eFuture Information Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: EFUT, the "Company", or "eFuture"), a leading provider of software and services in China's rapidly growing retail and consumer goods industries, today announced the launch of a pilot T+1 Supply Chain Financing ("T+1 SCF") program with a multi-tenant architecture offered through its subsidiary, Beijing bFuture Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("bFuture").
As a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") in the retail and consumer goods industries in China, bFuture is dedicated to facilitating the efficient flow of goods and services between retailers and their suppliers. As such, the Company has launched an innovative T+1 SCF pilot program to provide value-added multi-tenant financing services for small- and medium-sized suppliers. The pilot program is being rolled out at Beijing Modern Plaza, an upscale department store located near the heart of Beijing. To date, eight of Beijing Modern Plaza's suppliers have employed bFuture's T+1 SCF service.
As part of the bFuture SaaS platform, the SCF service will allow a select group of retailers with good credit ratings to receive limited short-term loans from Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. For suppliers in the retail industry in China, the typical accounts payable cycle is 45 to 90 days. With bFuture's T+1 SCF service, suppliers will be able to receive payment from banks by the second day following the transaction (T+1), and the retailers will be required to repay the loans to the banks via their usual settlement accounts. While the suppliers will need to pay a service fee to use the T+1 SCF platform, it is free of charge for the retailers.
The goal of the program is to shorten the payment cycle between retailers and their small- and medium-sized suppliers, a mutually beneficial proposition which will ensure retailers provide timely delivery of goods their customers demand by assisting their suppliers to increase liquidity.
Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Adam Yan, Chairman and CEO of eFuture, said, "The launch of bFuture's T+1 SCF service represents another important milestone in the development of our Software-as-a-Service strategy, a key long-term growth driver for eFuture. The benefits of this service to both retailers and suppliers are clear, and we believe the success of the Beijing Modern Plaza pilot program will provide us with a solid foundation upon which to extend the service. By alleviating some of the liquidity pressures faced by many small- and medium-sized suppliers, we believe bFuture's T+1 SCF service will lead to increased domestic demand as well as an optimized front-end retail supply chain structure. Our focus remains on helping our clients cut costs and increase efficiency as we build a successful multi-tenant eService model in the retail and consumer goods industries."
About eFuture Information Technology Inc.
eFuture Information Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: EFUT) is a leading provider of software and services in China's rapidly growing retail and consumer goods industries. eFuture provides integrated software and services to manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, logistics companies and retailers in China's front-end supply chain(from factory to consumer) market, especially in the retail and fast moving consumer goods industries. eFuture currently serves over 15 Fortune 500 companies, over 1,000 retailers and over 5,000 suppliers operating in China. eFuture is one of IBM's premier business partners in Asia Pacific and is a strategic partner with Oracle, Microsoft, JDA, Motorola and Samsung Network China. eFuture has more than 600 employees and 20 branch offices across China. For more information about eFuture, please visit http://www.e-future.com.cn/
For more information, please contact:
Investor Contact:
Troe Wen, Company Secretary
eFuture Information Technology Inc.
Tel: +86-10-5293-7699
Email: ir@e-future.com.cn
Investor Relations (US):
Mahmoud Siddig
Taylor Rafferty
Tel: +1-212-889-4350
Email: eFuture@Taylor-Rafferty.com
Investor Relations (HK):
Ruby Yim
Taylor Rafferty
Tel: +852-3196-3712
Email: eFuture@Taylor-Rafferty.com
Media Contact:
Jason Marshall
Taylor Rafferty
Tel: +1-212-889-4350
Email: eFuture@Taylor-Rafferty.com
