MET Group secures €915m revolving credit facilities 

MET Group, a Swiss-based European energy company, has announced the closing of its new short-term revolving credit facilities at €915m, with 16 banks participating in the transaction.

The new facilities consist of a €592.5m secured and a €322.5m unsecured revolving credit facility with a 364-day tenor and evergreen extension options. The new facilities are to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.

MET reports that, despite a challenging environment, the pricing of the facilities remained identical as in the previous year. The company says it appreciates the continuous support of the banking community and is pleased to welcome new banks to the facilities.

ING Bank acted as the facility and security agent for the transaction. The 16 lenders to the new facilities are Banque de Commerce et de Placements; Citibank Europe; Credit Suisse; Deutsche Bank; Erste Group Bank; GarantiBank International; Gazprombank; GPB International; ING Bank; Natixis; OTP Bank; UniCredit Bank; Rabobank International; Sberbank; Société Générale; and Zuercher Kantonalbank. Mayer Brown acted as lenders’ counsel.

 

City National Bank and Extend launch virtual Visa commercial credit card solution

US-headquartered City National Bank has announced that it has joined with New York City-based fintech startup Extend to launch a virtual Visa commercial credit card solution. This is able to generate true virtual cards on demand that can be added to Google Pay and Apple Pay mobile wallets for simplified and secure contactless payments at point of sale. With Extend, City National says it is the first issuer in the US to launch this solution.

With the virtual Visa card capability, City National commercial card clients can instantly send virtual credit cards to employees, contractors and vendors with enhanced digital capabilities, distinct spending limits and expiration dates, giving companies more oversight and control over how corporate cards are used. Once the cards are issued and enabled in the digital wallet, employees, contractors and vendors can use the cards for online purchases or use Apple Pay and Google Pay mobile wallets to make contactless payments at point of sale with a mobile phone, without having to wait for a physical card.

Specifically, the new virtual card solution allows the programme administrator to quickly issue a virtual Visa card to an employee, contractor or vendor via the Extend mobile app or web-based application. Employees, contractors and vendors can load the virtual card into their Apple Pay and Google Pay mobile wallets for easy and contact-less payments. Other perks include automatic reconciliation, receipt and invoice attachments and expense integrations. Businesses can also distribute virtual Visa cards safely without exposing card numbers and have the ability to cancel cards at any time. Visa Token Service, Visa’s tokenisation technology, replaces a cardholder’s 16-digit Visa account number with a secure token that is designed to protect the underlying card number from fraudsters.

“According to Visa Back to Business Study - 2021 Outlook, two-thirds (65%) of consumers would prefer to use contactless payments as much as, or even more than, they are currently,” said Kevin Phalen, global head of Visa Business Solutions. “Our collaboration with City National Bank and Extend to bring Visa virtual card capabilities to their commercial clients delivers innovation that makes B2B payments as simple and effortless as consumer payments are today.”  

 

State Bank of India (California) deploys Surecomp to support trade finance growth

Surecomp, a provider of global trade finance solutions, has announced that the State Bank of India (California) (SBIC), has selected and gone live with its back-office trade finance processing automation solution DOKA-NG. 

With trade finance operations spanning seven branches across California, SBIC will be using DOKA-NG to process letters of credit (LCs), standby LCs and documentary collections. The bank hopes this will provide for enhanced customer experience, optimised back-office operational efficiencies and reduced costs. SBIC - which is a wholly-owned but fully independent entity from India’s largest bank, the State Bank of India - required to go-live with a new solution within a tight timeframe. Following a comprehensive selection process, DOKA-NG was chosen.

Surecomp was selected based on its rich functionality, agile approach and proven development and deployment methodology, applicable within the required timeframe and with minimal risk. The project - which was delivered and will be supported by Surecomp’s US-based team in Hoboken, NJ - is part of the broader State Bank of India’s mission to become one of the world’s top ten digital banks, with trade finance being one of the main focal points of the transformation.