Released on 21 March 2007

Australian Ambassador Welcomes the Pre-Paid Visa Card Partnership between On Q and Incombank

HANOI - The Australian Ambassador, H.E Mr Bill Tweddell, today warmly welcomed the official establishment of the partnership between Australia’s On Q Group, On Q Vietnam JSC and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam, Incombank.

On Q is a publicly listed Australian organisation that specialises in software business systems – the EMBS (Electronic Business Management System) – to manage electronic product distribution, payments, processing, pre-paid Visa card transactions and in-store promotional media.

The signing ceremony, held in Hanoi today, has paved the way to make available, for the first ever in Vietnam, a pre-paid Visa Card to Vietnamese consumers. Named bopo Card, the pre-paid credit card will not only allow Vietnamese consumers to make purchases anywhere Visa is accepted, but also to withdraw cash from any ATM featuring the Visa logo – more than 14,000 locations in Vietnam and 24 million globally. The bopo Travel Card, to be launch in mid-2007, could be used by international Vietnamese travellers.

Ambassador Tweddell said the agreement was “another example of the deep and abiding relationship between Australia and Vietnam. It demonstrates the ever-increasing value Australian companies put on doing business in Vietnam, as well as the trust Vietnamese people and institutions continue to invest in Australia.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony the Director of On Q Group, Mr Julian Little, said that “On Q was extremely honoured and excited to be partnering with one of Vietnam’s leading financial institutions and we are confident that this is just the beginning of a very successful and long-term relationship.” Mr Little said he understood the inconvenience of having to carry significant amounts of cash or to provide staff with cash when they travel, “with bopo, we hope to solve this problem he added.

At the same ceremony, the Director-General of Incombank, Mr Pham Huy Hung, also said the agreement signified “a solid platform for long-lasting cooperation.” Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Dong Tien, said Vietnamese customers would find the pre-paid bopo Card convenient to use as it could be issued with a small face-value and that cardholders would not be obliged to have a bank account, which he said “would suit Vietnamese people who are not use to transacting via the bank.”

For more information please contact:

Patrick Stringer
Senior Trade Commissioner and Minister Counsellor
Australian Embassy
+84 4 831 7733
[email protected]