Alliance 21 and OneHypernet Forms A Partnership to Help SMEs Digitalise Their Cross-Border Payment Solutions

SINGAPORE,Nov. 3,2021 -- OneHypernet and Alliance 21 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today for the development of a cross-border payment solution for the settlement of invoices between Alliance 21 and their global network partners. The digital payment solution will use the latest blockchain technology by R3 to consolidate global payments within Alliance 21 networks of partners to provide them with a simplified solution that helps all parties overcome high bank charges and improve their cash flows,by reducing the number of payment points and associated charges.

Benjamin Ong (left),Founder and CEO,Alliance 21 Group,Tan Jin (centre),Cofounder,OneHypernet,Law Chung Ming,Director,Transport and Logistics,Enterprise Singapore.

Alliance 21 will extend this payment solution to its overseas network partners (also known as alexFRIENDS),on its ALEX.world portal. ANNEX A provides more information on common challenges SMEsfacein reconciling their payments between themselves and their network partners.

The digital cross-border payment solution is expected to roll out by 2Q2022. Alliance 21 expects at least 30 of its network partners to benefit from the rollout of the cross-border payment solution,which is expected to strengthen Singapore's position as a global financial and trading hub.

"OneHypernet uses confidential computing and enterprise blockchain technology to connect Alliance 21's network of partners on a single global ledger,enabling a real-time shared view with standardised protocols and data privacy. When data privacy is preserved,all payments within the network can be included for multilateral netting. This greatly reduces the number of cross-border settlements between the partners,resulting in better cashflow and savings of up to 96% of cross-border fees," said Tan Jin,Co-founder,OneHypernet.

"Alliance 21 is extremely delighted to be partnering with OneHypernet on this milestone Proof-of-Concept that will enhance the capabilities of our ALEX.world platform and provide tangible benefits for all our network partners from all over the world. We have always believed in pushing the boundaries of technology to solve our business and operational issues,and expand our business through strong alliances and partnerships.

OneHypernet's solution will provide a strong value-added feature to our platform,and we look forward to this co-operation to take our companies to the next level. We would also like to express our heartfelt thanks to Enterprise Singapore for their amazing support they have provided to Alliance 21 for our ALEX.world platform," said Mr Benjamin Ong,Alliance 21 Group.

For more information on the digital cross border payment solution,SMEs can visit www.OneHypernet.com

About OneHypernet

OneHypernet connects the world's foreign exchange markets – banks,corporates,and payment service providers on a unified ecosystem powered by enterprise blockchain technology. Our global payments network enables structurally cheaper and faster cross-border transactions. Underpinned by decentralised multicurrency multilateral netting,we reduce cross-border liquidity requirements and costs by 96%.

The OneHypernet team brings decades of experience from founding several of the largest money service businesses in Asia since 1990,including Thin Margin,the first and largest online money-changer in Singapore.

About Alliance 21

Alliance 21 is a specialist logistics service provider that was established in 2002 with focus on fulfilling customer requirements for the transport of time-critical products such as aircraft spares,foodstuff and other perishable goods,live animals,pharmaceuticals and healthcare,and oil and gas equipment. Together with its sister company ALEX Fulfilment Services,the company provides a full suite of logistics services in air and sea freight,transportation and warehousing.

Led by founder and CEO Benjamin Ong,the company has always promoted a culture of constant innovation,and eschewed the value of thinking out of the box. The company was awarded the Emerging Enterprise Award in 2010,and was one of the winners in the micro SME category in the 2019 SME Digital LEAP awards. Benjamin was also a winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2012 in the Logistics Category.

In late 2015,the company embarked on an ambitious strategy of digital transformation,and on 21 November 2017 launched its ALEX.world platform. ALEX,which stands for "Alliance21 Exchange",is a digital freight and fulfilment platform built from the ground-up to give customers a convenient and reliable cloud-based solution to get shipment quotations,make bookings,and track their deliveries,anytime and anywhere,from any web-based device. Anyone,and any company,can sign up to the platform to be an alexFRIEND,and get access to a convenient dashboard from which they can manage their logistics transactions,and keep updated on new developments and features on the platform.

ALEX also acts as a business enabler for the Alliance 21,allowing organic and third-party e-commerce applications to obtain a logistics solution through web-based APIs.

As Alliance 21 has grown,the company has never lost sight of its wider mission in society,and gives backs to the less fortunate in the community through its annual corporate social responsibility programme named Project ACTS. ACTS is an acronym for Alliance21 Calls To Serve,and the company has contributed meaningfully over the years to organisations such as the Touch Community,the Down Syndrome Association,and St. Joseph's Home.

ANNEX A

Challenges Faced by SMEs Reconciling Payments from Global Partners

For SMEs in the logistics sector like Alliance 21,one of the biggest challenges it faces every month relates to the high amount of bank charges it has to pay from settlement of various invoices with its network partners,who are located all over the world. Aside from the charges,there are also potential losses from currency fluctuations,and pressure on the company's cash flows due to the volume of transactions that need to be reconciled.