Member News

Global Radio, the UK’s largest commercial radio company has partnered with Square1 Communications to launch Radio’s biggest competition, Who’s on Heart’ on Heart FM in 2014.

Listeners can win one of three big cash prizes by identifying the three secret celebrity voices played on Global’s Heart Network. For one lucky listener, naming all three secret celebrities will win them the big cash jackpot which starts at £30,000 and increases each time the game is played.

The Premium Rate IVR system used for Who’s on Heart was developed by Square1 Communications and handles the knowledge, judgement and skill requirement of the Gambling Commission on the phone line, meaning that the message given out on the radio is simpler and cleaner for the listener to grasp. Joel Stern, Commercial Manager at Global Radio said “We have worked with Square1 on a number of projects previously but Who’s on Heart in 2014 promises to be the biggest IVR competition we have run on Premium Rate to date. We are delighted with the bespoke platform they have built for us and are certain it will improve the revenue potential from this competition.”

The competition will run 6 days a week from Monday 6th January until all three secret celebrities have been identified.

Oval Insurance Broking has been awarded National Broker of the Year at the 2013 Insurance Times Awards, which were held on Tuesday 3rd December 2013 at the Battersea Evolution in London.

Peter Blanc, Oval Group CEO commented “It marks a really important milestone for us as a business – we’re now a joined up, fully formed national broking business and we’re seen as such by our peers in the industry……something for us all to be proud of.”

The Insurance Times Awards are described as one of the biggest events in UK General Insurance, with over 1400 industry members present. The awards recognise the achievements of Brokers, Insurers and Service Companies to the Industry and winners are chosen by an independent panel of judges, chosen for their experience and expertise.

The National Broker of the Year award recognises excellence, business resilience and innovation on a UK wide basis and how brokers use their national footprint and resources word to improve efficiency, value and service.

About Oval Insurance Broking 

With offices across the UK, Oval Insurance Broking (Oval) is the specialist insurance and advisory partner of choice for thousands of organisations and individuals across a range of disciplines and industry sectors.

From general insurance to sector-specific requirements, the strength of Oval lies in designing bespoke, dynamic and competitive risk solutions that fit your needs.  Our insurance and risk specialists take the time to understand those needs, simplifying risk to deliver a consistently innovative, high standard and high performance service that adds value, capability, agility and competitive edge to your business.

For more information, visit us at www.theovalgroup.com

 

The Disasters Emergency Committee ( DEC ), the umbrella organisation for 14 UK humanitarian aid agencies, is using the leading mobile engagement solution provider OpenMarket to drive mobile fundraising for its Philippines Typhoon Appeal. OpenMarket’s Mobile Engagement Platform is powering the appeal’s mobile donation channel, which has raised over £1M in mobile donations since the campaign launched on November 12th.

DEC launched its Philippines Typhoon Appeal to raise money to help the millions of people affected or left homeless by the devastating Typhoon Haiyan that struck the country on November 8th 2013. The OpenMarket platform processes incoming donations made using Premium SMS ( PSMS ). Donations are made by texting DONATE to 70000, a designated DEC short code. Donors then receive a PSMS confirming their donation. DEC also uses OpenMarket to engage with donors on an ongoing basis with opt-in SMS appeal updates and invitations to make further donations.

In addition, DEC uses SMS to invite donors to register for Gift Aid, which increases the value of donations by 25 per cent. OpenMarket is the only provider in the market that enables donors to register for Gift Aid using SMS. Donors are invited to register for Gift Aid by texting back their name, first line of address and postcode. The Mobile Engagement Platform checks that the format of the details is accurate and then sends a confirmation message. Other providers typically direct donors to websites: this disrupts the registration and can potentially obstruct the Gift Aid process entirely, especially for websites that are not optimised for viewing on a mobile phone and when impulsive donors are on the move. Using SMS for Gift Aid continues to convert interest in about 2/3rds of donors.

OpenMarket has been DEC’s partner of choice for mobile engagement since its Pakistan Floods Appeal in August 2010. OpenMarket also worked with the DEC to deliver the mobile campaign for its East Africa Crisis Appeal in July 2011 and the Syria Crisis Appeal in 2013.

“OpenMarket is one of our longest-standing fundraising partners and we’re thrilled to work with them again on this important appeal,” said Adil Husseini, Head of Fundraising at the DEC. “OpenMarket has consistently proven their ability to handle our sudden and highly demanding needs. We had less than 48-hours to launch a massive media campaign and once again OpenMarket did not fail to seamlessly deliver our mobile fundraising needs.”

The OpenMarket Mobile Engagement Platform processes billions of transactions worldwide each month for high-profile global brands, companies and organisations. Charities can use the Mobile Engagement Platform to build specific use-cases for both one-off and on-going donation and donor engagement. Most importantly, it is totally flexible to the charity’s unique needs.

“OpenMarket is a trusted mobile engagement partner of the DEC, and this relationship has built up over several years and over several successful projects,” said Adrian Sarosi, Head of Marketing for EMEA at OpenMarket. “The cost of implementing mobile donations is minimal and allows charities to spend less on face to face fundraising and call centres. The DEC’s use of SMS for its Philippines Typhoon Appeal reinforces the impact and value of mobile as an important fundraising mechanism.”

 

GlobalCharge are pleased to announce that they are the first In-App mobile billing service provider to be accredited under the new Payforit scheme for In-App mobile transactions.

Payforit is the UK mobile micropayment scheme, created and supported by all of the UK mobile network operators (MNOs), enabling consumers to use their mobile phone account or prepaid balance to transact securely and safely when purchasing content and services on the internet.

Following successful trials earlier this year, the Payforit scheme has been extended to include specific guidelines for In-App purchases. With the key considerations of security, consumer protection in mind, Payforit 4.1 will require In-App purchases to be conducted via an authorised In-App payment intermediary.

GlobalCharge’s In-App payment library enables merchants to quickly and easily offer Payforit In-App payments in their Android apps. Merchants retain control over the overall checkout experience while GlobalCharge takes care of the specific requirements for Payforit compliance. The resulting frictionless checkout experience ensures that Merchants benefit from high conversion rates.

Consumers will benefit from greater protection against unauthorised purchases and will enjoy the familiar Payforit transparent and seamless payment experience. Charges will be deducted directly from their mobile phone avoiding the inconvenience of inputting credit or debit card details.

We are seeing huge growth in In-App mobile transactions as Digital Merchants leverage the flexibility and convenience that in-app mobile billing offers said Bernadette Lyons of GlobalCharge. We believe that Payforit In-App billing offers great benefits for both merchants and consumers in the UK and we are delighted to be at the forefront in offering a Payforit approved solution to our customers.

SLA Mobile, Belfast based mobile solutions provider announced the signing of an agreement with Zain Group, a pioneer in mobile telecommunications in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, to provide customers with Direct Operator Billing capabilities. Through this agreement Zain Group becomes one of the first operators in the region that will launch the service.

Direct Operator Billing, which is also known as Carrier Billing, will enable Zain’s customers to pay for digital goods from a third-party content or service provider by charging the transaction to their mobile phone monthly bill or using their pre-paid credit.

In regard to Zain Group’s deal with SLA Mobile, the service will provide several benefits to Zain and its customers and to the industry at large, namely:
• It will provide customers the ability to easily and safely purchase apps from leading global app stores across the various operating platforms such as Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry and charge their bills or their credit balance in case of prepaid, all without a requirement for a credit card.

• Customers can easily purchase digital content and services provided by Zain’s local and regional partners with merchants and app developers now being able to reach a wider audience with their products and services encouraging and driving the innovation and consumption of such content.

Scott Gegenheimer, Zain Group CEO said: “By being one of the first telecom providers in the Middle East to launch a Direct Operator Billing service, we reinforce our dedication to providing customers with the best purchasing experience and we are confident this service will enable them to use mobile payments in a safe and easy manner.”

Gegenheimer continued: “The exciting world of mobile digital services is driving the mobile industry forward at the moment, with a whole new world of content and applications being developed and introduced all the time. Zain is already one of the leading technology innovators with respect to our state-of-the-art mobile broadband networks, and this investment in our networks goes hand-in-hand with our ability to offer services that enhance customer’s digital purchasing experiences.”

With mobile content and apps revenue in emerging markets such as the Middle East and Africa predicted to skyrocket, giving customers an easy solution to purchase and consume digital services on their mobile devices is a prudent step taken by Zain at this time.

Nic Stirk, CEO of SLA Mobile said: “The Direct Operator Billing solution offers customers a highly convenient mobile payment option while allowing mobile operators to rapidly monetize their customers’ digital consumption. Mobile operators have many assets that can be monetized and Direct Operator Billing is the stepping stone to greater things in terms of improving competitiveness and increasing customer loyalty and retention.”

Zain’s Direct Operator Billing service is set to be launched in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, first, followed by Iraq, South Sudan and Sudan.