Data Base Trade Firm Also Seeking Bank Customers

increasingly electronic world of international trade finance.

The New York company offers a Web site where potential buyers and sellers of goods can meet. It maintains a data base of 3.2 million companies globally, thanks to a relationship with Dun & Bradstreet. And it says it hopes to develop partnerships with major global banks.

"We certainly have our foot in the door," said Glen Zagoren, chairman of Pronetlink, after recent meetings with officials of several among the largest international trade finance banks in the world.

"I think there are many people in banking who understand the power of where the Internet is going," he added.

Pronetlink, which was founded in 1997, charges members $29 a month for its service and has 3,000 paying customers in 53 countries. It also has strategic partnerships with the insurance company Aon Corp. -- giving members access to financial, insurance, and risk management services -- and with National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, a trade group that has 600 members.

-- Steven Marjanovic

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER