The newly formed, strategic alliance will provide value-added service to hotels and merchants through a B2B, e-commerce environment. PG/BMP enhances guests� check-in/check-out times and dramatically streamlines hotels and merchant operations, thus resulting in significant cost savings.

Peter Zhang, General Manager, Bank of China, Retail Banking Department, stated, �Bank of China, the pioneer in the credit card industry in China, has been creating a customer-driven corporate culture which is in conformity with our mission statement to meet the needs of our clients. In line with this, Bank of China and MICROS-Fidelio have worked together and developed a BMP System, which will integrate the MICROS-Fidelio system into the credit card processing system of Bank of China. BMP System, a technological enhancement of the hotel�s system and the bank�s credit card processing system, will increase the usage rate of the previous EDC system, streamline the hotel�s current procedure of accepting credit cards, and greatly simplify the check-out time for customers, which embodies our customer-driven corporate culture. This effort between Bank of China and MICROS-Fidelio, a cooperation between two leaders in different industries, will be of great significance in promoting the development of credit card business in China.�

Stefan M. Piringer, President, MICROS-Fidelio Asia/Pacific added, �MICROS-Fidelio Asia/Pacific is very pleased to enhance its presence in China by entering into a strategic alliance with Bank of China. It rewards our efforts over the past years to establish MICROS-Fidelio in China not only as a global but also as a local leader in providing advanced hospitality automation solutions. 

MICROS-Fidelio is diversifying its business portfolio in line with the emerging �New Economy� or e-business to assist its customers to meet the challenges ahead and to enhance guest service while reducing operating cost.  The BMP system is a perfect example of taking traditional methods of processing credit cards to the next level in terms of guest service and user-friendliness combined with substantial cost savings. This strategic alliance with Bank of China also illustrates that leading organizations in China are on the forefront of utilizing new technologies in order to develop advanced e-business solutions for local and international deployment. Hence, we will offer this solution initially in China but plan to expand throughout the Asia Pacific region in the near future.�

Bank of China, one of Fortune magazine�s global 500 enterprises for 11 years, with 88 years of history, has been playing an important role in China�s economic, financial and social development, in particular in the growth of China�s foreign trade and the exchanges with international financial circle.  Bank of China is the first bank in China to introduce credit cards. Great Wall Credit Card, the first credit card issued in China by Bank of China, now has more than 17.7 million cardholders, more than 71,900 merchants and with more than RMB10.4 billion annual direct-consuming volumes. 

MICROS Systems, Inc. provides enterprise applications for the hospitality industry worldwide. Over 120,000 MICROS systems are currently installed in table and quick service restaurants, hotels, motels, casinos, and leisure and entertainment operations in more than 130 countries. MICROS provides property management systems and central reservation and customer information solutions under the brand MICROS-Fidelio for more than 10,000 hotels worldwide.