Exclusive agreement will extend World's most popular currency conversion service to business travelers worldwide
SEATTLE, JUNE 9, 1998 -- In order to meet the ever-growing demands of business travelers Global Network Architects (GNA, http://www.gna-corp.net), the architect, builder and implementer of broadband virtual communities, finalized an agreement today with OANDA for the provision of the world's most popular currency conversion service to users of GNA's highly advanced hospitality system. Under the terms of the agreement, GNA will introduce into its virtual communities OANDA's (http://www.oanda.com) customized currency converter service and its companion customizable cheat sheet service, an interactive currency conversion tool which creates printable, wallet-sized conversion tables for foreign travelers.
OANDA's 164 Currency Converter, the most complete service of its kind, offers current and historical exchange rates from 1990 to the present in 164 different currencies. Aside from English, it is available in French, German and Italian.
The agreement with OANDA comes on the heels of GNA's landmark agreement with the online travel service, Biztravel.com (http://www.biztravel.com), the Internet company for frequent business travelerssm. The two companies inked an exclusive agreement, which will extend Biztravel's reach overseas, via the GNA Hospitality Community and other GNA virtual communities, such as the small office and a proposed road warrior community.
Deployment of OANDA's services by GNA will begin with GNA Hospitality Community, a personalized in-room communications service soon to be deployed in hotels and resorts worldwide. GNA Hospitality Community will make interactive information and entertainment - as well as powerful computing applications - available via televisions in the comfort of a guest's hotel room. Aside from GNA Hospitality Community, GNA will also bring OANDA services to GNA's other communities to be deployed, including those aimed at road warriors, networked learning professionals and students and business and residential communities. GNA's solution of delivering broadband, streaming video is deployable to many different types of end-users.
"We are extremely pleased to be partnering with OANDA to deliver this much needed service. In today's globalized economy, timely and ubiquitous access to currency information is absolutely essential -- as important as stock market information," said GNA Chief Executive Officer Raymond Cheng.
"Seamlessly integrating OANDA's currency conversion service into the GNA Hospitality Community and other virtual communities is one of the most effective and elegant ways to bring the right content to the right audience," said OANDA Chief Operating Officer Jenny Zhan Sidler. "Combining OANDA's superior data service with GNA's virtual communities, this partnership is a first step to unlock the tremendous market potential for personalized currency information delivered with guaranteed quality and reliability," added Sidler.
Announced in November 1997, the GNA Hospitality Community brings together several strong interests: Microsoft Corp.; Global Network Architects; Compaq/Tandem, and 3Com. GNA Hospitality Community dramatically redefines what hotel guests can expect in their hotel rooms by delivering a personalized office away from the office and a home away from home. After a trial period, GNA Hospitality Community will be swiftly deployed to hospitality properties worldwide. In addition to video-on-demand, games and shopping services, the new service will allow travelers to utilize Microsoft Office products from a central source, as well as to receive personalized, private and secure e-mail, faxes and voice mails from the comfort of their hotel rooms through in-room televisions.
ABOUT GNA Known as the global architect, builder and implementer of broadband virtual communities, GNA has an impressive track record dating back three years. It is best known for its innovative approach to constructing virtual communities for companies and organizations. In its early years, GNA established a reputation in Southeast Asia for developing hardware and software tools for medium to large-scale communities, for virtually every type of network. Some of GNA's landmark achievements include pioneering the world's first high-speed, interactive community networks and hosting the first interactive, online discussion between Southeast Asian leaders. With offices in the United States, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and the United Kingdom, GNA has a truly global reach, and one which will allow it to further extend the services of its content providers. GNA derives much of its strength from its ability to bring together the best expertise in technologies, design, content and management. End users range from academics and business travelers to consumers and connected professionals.
ABOUT OANDA The Currency Site by OANDA is best known for its easy-to-use Currency Converter for more than 164 currencies and innovative currency information services on the Internet. Established in late 1996, as the Internet subsidiary of the Zurich-based leading financial technology firm, Olsen & Associates, OANDA develops and markets a full spectrum of quality FX services with a strong focus on customizability. OANDA's popular products also include the practical wallet-sized currency "cheat sheet", historical graphs and tables, bid/ask details, and advanced forecasts for the currency markets.
OANDA is committed to making the essential currency information easily accessible to anyone including currency investors and traders, professionals in corporate procurement, business and private individuals who buy and sell globally, or the peripatetic road warrior. Actively providing currency conversion services for the Internet users of CNN, Pathfinder, Swissair, Mastercard, among others, OANDA has won wide acclaim as the best source for foreign exchange rates.
Strongly backing OANDA's superior services is the advanced predictive technology and the high frequency financial data collection of Olsen & Associates. O&A offers products and services to major financial institutions worldwide including FX forecasts, trading models, volatility services, price validation, risk management, and portfolio analysis.
For more information contact:
Wilson McHenry Company Roxanne Verduzco rverduzco@wmc.com Ph: 650-638-3400 x 259
