Card Briefs: MasterCard Pilot Using Elekom Software

Elekom Corp. said it is providing the software for a six-month electronic procurement pilot in MasterCard International's global purchasing department.

Selected employees at MasterCard's Purchase, N.Y., headquarters and St. Louis operations center are ordering goods from their desktop computers and paying for them electronically with MasterCard purchasing cards.

The software, Elekom Procurement, brings together multiple vendors' products in a simple purchase directory and links to MasterCard's Smart Data for Windows system for reporting and tracking purchases.

"It makes it easier for employees to place orders by providing on-line catalogues of contracted suppliers," said Elekom president Kirk Lockhart. "In addition, it provides comprehensive information about every transaction for management reporting and month-end reconciliation."

Chris Selland, a Yankee Group analyst, said "catalogue management" is a major challenge for electronic procurement systems. "Elekom has found a way to leverage supplier Web sites without forcing users to learn hundreds of different catalogues."

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