mobile payments

Fonix powers mobile donations for Comic Relief for the 5th year running

Posted on by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

Mobile payments company Fonix has announced that this year it processed mobile donations for Comic Relief for the 5th year running, raising more than £10.6m via text-to-donate. Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day campaign is a biennial campaign hosted by the BBC, raising money to help people in the UK and across the world to live happier, healthier, safer lives.

This year’s campaign featured the live show, held on Friday 15th March, as well as a series of driver programmes. Each of these shows promoted text-to-donate, which allowed donors to donate via text at a range of price points: £5, £10, £20 and, for the first time for Comic Relief, £30 amounts for both the live show and the Kilimanjaro challenge during which 9 celebrities climbed Africa’s highest mountain. Donations were added to entrants’ mobile phone bills, allowing for a seamless, easy payment.

During the live show and the Kilimanjaro climb, the money raised from the £30 price point alone accounted for over 30% of the total raised via SMS.

Another new initiative for the 2019 campaign was the introduction of a competition which enabled viewers to donate or to opt-out of a donation whilst entering the competition. This was featured on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and was the first time that the charity launched a competition to drive donations.

Entrants paid £5 to enter and be in with a chance of winning a unique dining experience, cooked for them by celebrity chefs. Using Fonix’s delayed donation technology, entrants had the opportunity to opt-out without being charged within 60 minutes of entering the competition.

Clare Charles, Account Director for Media and Charity at Fonix commented:

“We’re proud to have supported Comic Relief in powering mobile donations for the fifth year in a row.  We’ve come so far since 2014, as we now work with the charity to provide a total of four price points and we’re also constantly innovating to allow the charity to roll out new features. The delayed donation, for example, raised a tremendous £576,250 across four prize draws via text.”

Catherine Cottrell, Executive Director of Fundraising & Partnerships at Comic Relief added:

“It’s been exciting working with Fonix to offer new experiences and donation mechanisms to supporters and we are delighted that year’s campaign was such a success.”

Fonix’s innovation processes £12.9m for BBC Children in Need’s 2018 Appeal via text donations

Posted on by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

12th December 2018, London – Fonix, the mobile payments and messaging specialist, has announced today that it processed £12.9 million in mobile donations for BBC Children in Need.

BBC Children in Need is the BBC’s UK charity, raising money for disadvantaged children and young people around the country. Fonix has worked with the charity since 2014, providing a mobile payment mechanic which allows the public to donate via SMS, seamlessly charging the costs to their mobile phone bills.

This year, Fonix and BBC Children in Need collaborated to introduce the first ever £30 price point (alongside the traditional price points of £20, £10 and £5). This was introduced for the Children in Need Rocks concert with great success, and implemented on the live annual Appeal Show which aired on 16th November.

BBC Children in Need also ran multiple text-to-donate competitions for the first time, including the chance to see Bruce Springsteen on Broadway which featured on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show. A one-off voluntary donation of £10 was made to BBC Children in Need, but the public were able to opt out by replying CANCEL to their entry confirmation text within 60 minutes.

Clare Charles, Director of Media and Charity for Fonix, commented “We’re proud to have worked with BBC Children in Need this year. Since 2014 we’ve worked with the charity to refine and improve the mobile donation process.

“It’s clear that the public are willing to donate larger amounts via text-to-donate, and allowing them to do this by introducing the £30 price point has been great for raising money for such a good cause.”

Karen Bass, Chief Operating Officer at BBC Children in Need said “Mobile is such an important channel for maximising donations, helping us to raise as much money as possible to support disadvantaged children and young people around the UK. Donating by text is a quick and simple way for people to help change young lives. We’re grateful to Fonix for enabling this and to all of our generous supporters whose donations will go on to make such a difference.”

Fonix listed in FT Future 100 UK as recognition for its disruptive mobile technology

Posted on by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

Fonix has announced today that it has been listed in the FT  Future 100, a compilation of British companies making an impact either on society or their industry.

This is the first year that the FT Future 100 has run and to make it on to the list, companies had to excel in one of four categories: boosting diversity, consistent growth, disruption and those seeking to make a positive impact via their environmental, social and governance policies (ESG policies).

Fonix received recognition for its dedication to disruption. In this category, judges took into account measures such as research and development spending as a proportion of revenue, as well as the company’s own pitch as a disrupter. Fonix also received recognition for its consistent revenue growth, which is based upon its two consecutive listings in the FT 1000.

CEO of Fonix, Rob Weisz commented “We’re absolutely thrilled to have been listed in the FT Future 100, as we know what a prestigious listing this is. Fonix is at the heart of driving the mobile payments space in the UK – to be recognised for our disruptive technology really rubber stamps this!

“The team have worked incredibly hard to get us to where we are today and being listed in the FT Future 100 is testament to this effort. They are all so dedicated to the Fonix journey and their passion for disruptive tech is what drives us forward. This is such an exciting time for Fonix and we can’t wait to see what happens next!”

You can view the full FT Future 100 UK list here.

Fonix partners with OMG to bring society lotteries into the 21st Century

Posted on by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

 

22nd August 2018, London – Fonix, the mobile payments and messaging specialist, today announced that it has partnered with Open Mobile Global to provide a mobile operator billing mechanic for its clients that run society lotteries.

Fonix and OMG will be launching society lotteries that operate with a mobile payment mechanic for the very first time with The Alzheimer’s Society.

Society lotteries are run by charities, with the proceeds going to charitable causes. Traditionally, participants have entered into lotteries by purchasing a paper ticket, and this evolved over the years to encompass credit and debit card payments.

The Fonix and OMG partnership brings society lotteries into the 21st century and will allow consumers to enter these lotteries simply by sending an SMS to the service. This removes the need for entering banking details as only the mobile number is required to take the payment.

Simon King, Head of Product Development at OMG said of the partnership “We’ve worked with Fonix to deliver SMS donations for clients with great success, and since enabling society lotteries to use phone payment has been approved by the Payment Service Authority, it was a natural progression to collaborate with Fonix on this and add mobile payments to the mix.

“We know there’s a demand for this sort of service, with some society lotteries having proceeds in excess of £250,000 in any one year. Introducing mobile payments will allow our clients to meet their fundraising goals more readily.”

Clare Charles, Account Director of Fonix comments, “We love making it easier for consumers to donate to charities, and society lotteries provide a really exciting opportunity for both OMG and Fonix.”

Mobile donations have been hugely popular amongst our charity clients and donors. As a payment mechanic, it’s easy, convenient and secure –  supporters can have absolute confidence in it. We can’t wait to see the results that running mobile operator billing amongst OMG’s client base for society lotteries brings.”

Playwing Signs with SLA Digital for Direct Carrier Billing

Posted on by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

Independent game developer and publisher, Playwing has partnered with SLA Digital to enable direct carrier billing payments for their gaming platform across the Middle East and Asia.

Playwing has launched their service with SLA Digital in Myanmar and Iraq and are planning additional carrier billing rollouts over the next few months.

“Playwing’s focus is to make our games available to as many people as possible and carrier billing is key to enabling this. The payment option allows customers to easily access our premium content by using their mobile phone bill.” Said Florian Gheorghe, Relations Manager. “We are delighted to have partnered with SLA Digital as they have a wealth of carrier billing experience and key mobile operator connections.”

“Direct carrier billing offers gaming companies like Playwing the opportunity to monetise customers through a simple and secure mobile payment channel. We are delighted to have partnered with Playwing as we continue to bring fresh and exciting premium content to Mobile Operator customers.”  Commented Ashley O’Kane, Head of Marketing at SLA Digital.

 

 

More information:

SLA Digital is an international Digital Services company delivering innovative solutions such as Direct Operator Billing to Mobile Network Operators and Content Partners globally in order to drive additional revenue streams for all participants. SLA’s team of experienced mobile specialists operate worldwide serving significant operator and content partners throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

 

Playwing is owned by the founders of Ubisoft and is dedicated to bringing high-value propositions to gamers, game publishers, phone manufacturers and advertisers.