Rupen Patel joins Dynamic Mobile Billing

Dynamic Mobile Billing appoints Rupen Patel as Head of Sales and Marketing.

Rupen brings a wealth of experience, with a career that spans over 20 years, including his time as Product & Lead Commercial Manager at mobile operator Three UK, as well as previous industry experience gained at Telefónica and Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF).

DMB CEO Kev Dawson comments on the appointment: “Rupen joins the UK Management team at an exciting growth time for the business.  We are seeing new revenue growth opportunities across both existing and new sector clients and Rupen offers extensive experience and capability to help drive DMB UK offerings in these areas.”

Rupen adds: “I’m delighted to be joining DMB at this promising time and hoping my experience can directly contribute to the mutual success of both myself and the business.”

Rupen started his career in the Media & Advertising sector, including stints at ITV, Channel 4 and WPP covering Sales, Business Development and Account/Client/Product Management.  He’s worked across all the major Media Agency groups and managed a portfolio of clients that included BT, Vodafone, Unilever, Mars, Procter & Gamble and GlaxoSmithKlein

At Three UK, Rupen was initially hired within the Payment Services team and was responsible for managing both Direct Carrier Billing & Premium Rate Services. For the last 20 months his focus has been solely on managing and growing the Premium SMS and Voice business working within the Wholesale Team.

As DMB are a member of aimm, we look forward to working with him, and hope to see him at the working groups.

 

Charity online giving has risen during Covid 19

During this time with the country at home, and unable to shop the usual way, a survey by nfpSynergy has found that online charitable giving has doubled from 2019.  It found that those charities that were set up to accept online giving had benefited during this time, highlighting the importance of having an online presence and the ability to react quickly to changes. Online donations were collected via charities websites and Direct Debits but also saw an increase in text giving.

“It’s about making it as easy as possible for the public to give so that charities can achieve more.” Simon Baines MD of the Access Group

It was also reported that while donation levels were down generally, the average donation amount had increased by approx £10 per person from January.

 

Quote taken from: https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/number-of-people-giving-to-charity-during-lockdown-lowest-in-a-decade-poll-finds.html

Member Spotlight: Meet Telecom2

We would like to introduce you to Telecom2, one of our Fixed Line providers, and also a long standing member of our Board.

We interviewed Rob Johnson the Chairman for Telecom2 and he told us they are a technical development operation specialising in telecoms and billing, and their clients include TV companies and Premiership Football Club!

You can read the full interview here: Telecom2 Spotlight Member Feature

 

Alchimie’sTVPlayer switches on direct carrier billing with Fonix

Fonix, the mobile payments and messaging specialist, announced its partnership with Alchimie’s UK based OTT service, TVPlayer today.

TVPlayer offers a monthly premium subscription service with access to live television channel streams, catchup and on demand. As part of this partnership Fonix has introduced carrier billing specifically for premium TVPlayer subscribers who join through social media channels.

Fonix’s carrier billing solution is being used on the service to seamlessly charge the monthly subscription straight to the consumers’ mobile phone bill, without the need to enter credit card details.

Stephen George, Commercial Director, Fonix, said: “We are very happy to help TVPlayer grow and monetise their user base. Providing consumers with a carrier billing payment experience to access content is proving to be an essential part of the payment mix for OTT providers, which is why Fonix and TVPlayer are such natural partners.”

Kieran Knight, Commercial Director, TVPlayer, added: “The Fonix service provides an additional fast and easy payment option enabling our viewers to purchase a subscription with just a couple of taps, and allowing TVPlayer’s premium customers to watch their TV shows, on demand, and offline, without interruption from ads.”

The Big Night In Appeal raised more than £10.3m via mobile donations

Fonix has announced today that more than £10.3m has been processed in mobile donations for The Big Night In Appeal.

The three-hour show took place on 23rd April and saw BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief join forces for the first time. The £10.3m processed through text donations helped contribute to the £27.3m raised on the night of the Appeal. Funds raised will be split equally between BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief and will go on to support vital local charities and projects in the UK who are providing essential help to those most in need.

The show promoted text-to-donate, allowing donors to donate via text at a range of price points: £5, £10, £20 and £30. Three competitions were also promoted on the night including the David Walliams prize draw, Little Mix prize draw and a chance to win a Morgan car. The Morgan prize draw was the top competition for the night and was sourced by Fonix.

Donations for the competitions were charged to the entrants mobile phone bill. Using Fonix’s delayed donation technology entrants had the choice to opt-out without being charged within 60 minutes of entering.

Clare Charles, Director of Media and Charity at Fonix, said: “It’s been such an honor to work with Comic Relief and BBC Children in Need for this great cause. It’s also amazing to see the impact of running competitions – the money donated was rather astonishing!”

Kerry Howard, Head of Operations Appeal for BBC Children in Need, said: We’re so thankful to Fonix for enabling mobile donations so quickly and to the generous public whose donations will go on to make such a difference. A huge amount of money has been raised to help projects around the country that are doing vital work to support people throughout the pandemic.”

Jules Thorne, Campaign Co-director at Comic Relief, said: “Thanks to Fonix’s support and the enormous generosity of the public, both our charities will now make sure that this desperately needed funding supports vulnerable people, as quickly and efficiently as possible.”