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Clickatell: US Financial Services Providers Adopting Mobile; SMS Tip
of the Spear; Clickatell Mobile Messaging Deployed by Major US Brands
to Deliver Actionable Alerts via SMS to Mobile Phones Anywhere, Anytime
(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
RDATE:11092008
Redwood City, CA -- Clickatell, leading provider of global mobile
messaging solutions, today announced that top US financial institutions
and technology providers who serve the FI market including Visa, S1
Postilion, and RSA Data Security are trusting Clickatell to provide
actionable financial alerts and notifications to millions of cell
phones via SMS.
The demand for immediate access to personal financial information and
mobile transactions is growing rapidly around the world and in the US
marketplace. Text messaging is the easiest, most universal and
cost-effective way to provide critical and timely financial information
to mobile customers. The Wireless Association reports 363 billion SMS
texts were sent in 2007, up from 81 billion in 2005, an upward trend
that continues to see tremendous growth in the US and across the world.
Red Gillen, Celent's senior banking analyst added, "Internationally,
we've seen that banks have already gone through the tough phases of
trying to see what works. They've implemented the applications and the
WAP solutions, but a common thread across most banks is the use of SMS
because it provides a solution that is customer-friendly."
"At a time when the I want it now' state of mind is prevalent, banks
need to provide customers with an easy to use, convenient and
ubiquitous mobile banking solution giving customers the account
information they need anytime, anywhere. SMS doesn't require loading,
discovery initiating or learning - just type, send, receive," commented
Pieter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell. "Needing to keep existing
customers and looking to acquire new market share, Banks must offer a
simple, relevant mobile solution - today. Text messaging is the perfect
way to give customers the most needed mobile banking services such as
balance inquiries, identity monitoring, transaction alerts, money
transfers, notifications, account monitoring, ATM locaters, and more.
Leading Organizations and Clickatell Establish the Mobile Banking
Standard
Visa, having recently unveiled its "Transaction Notification" pilot, is
counting on Clickatell to deploy its mobile text and email
notifications to Visa cardholders in partnership with leading banks.
Offering an early mobile warning service via Clickatell SMS, Visa is
giving cardholders extra confidence when making purchases with their
credit card by providing them with the option of receiving email and
mobile text alerts at the time of payment. This innovative service
provides cardholders with real time alerts to mobile phones as well as
email, making it possible for cardholders to pay close attention to
account activity as they transact in real time.
Clickatell has partnered with S1 Enterprise and Postilion to provide
on-demand text-based mobile services to millions. S1 Enterprise works
with more than 100 banks and three million consumer, small business,
and corporate users to help them access and manage financial
information. Postilion, works with over 1,500 banks in more than 50
countries and has led the development of self-service financial
transactions and payments, including advanced transactions such as
prepay, through Internet access points, ATMs, POS terminals, and
phones. Now, customers will be able to take advantage of on-demand,
mobile capabilities of SMS banking and payment services, including
account balance inquiries, funds transfers, account alerts, and
person-to-person (P2P) payments via Clickatell SMS anytime, anywhere.
In addition, Clickatell recently announced a partnership with market
leading RSA, the Security Division of EMC, to enable the delivery of
two-factor authentication to mobile devices, via SMS, Clickatell is
positioned to provide two-factor authentication directly to cell
phones. Banking and enterprise customers can receive an RSA-generated
one-time password via text message directly to their cell phone which
allows for immediate and secure access to critical account information
without requiring physical tokens to be assigned or software to be
installed.
Given the ubiquity of mobile phones across the world, leading financial
services organizations are providing interactive financial messaging
via SMS to acquire new customers, lower operational costs and
ultimately increase the bottom line. Financial institutions are
inundated with large volumes of routine customer requests for account
status, balance checks, money movement confirmation, transaction
verification, and more. As customers become increasingly mobile, SMS is
the most effective way to connect with them at a fraction of the cost
of traditional channels commonly used to interact such as bank tellers,
ATMs, IVRs, and 24x7 live agent call centers. Text messaging provides a
way for financial institutions to reach their customers via their
mobile phone at lower costs and with greater efficiency, intimacy and
relevance.
"If you've ever tried accessing a mobile website or downloading a
mobile application for banking - you know how inconvenient and
aggravating it can be today. People don't bother when what they really
need is a quick balance check or confirmation of an important
transaction. These major US brands made the vital decision to invest in
text messaging for their mobile strategy to increase their chance for
success - which confirms what others internationally already knew - it
does not make sense to offer complex mobile applications initially, go
for ubiquity and simplicity. Clickatell is the leader in mobile
messaging for financial services," concluded de Villiers.
About Clickatell
Clickatell enables businesses, governments and communities to leverage
the ubiquity of mobile messaging to inform, alert, notify, transact,
interact and share information. Delivering mobile messaging solutions
since 2000, Clickatell is a global leader in mobile communications
specializing in SaaS messaging services and Bulk SMS gateway
connectivity to small, medium and large enterprises in a variety of
vertical markets. Clickatell's multi-modal capability and worldwide
coverage gives organizations the power to deliver any message to any
device anywhere in the world. Reaching more than 700 networks in more
than 200 countries, Clickatell serves 8,300 customers including Visa,
Nokia, Oracle, RSA, AVAYA, BBC, Continental Airlines, CNN, First
National Bank, Metropolitan Life, Oracle, Shell, and other industry
leaders. Clickatell products and services increase customer
acquisition, improve loyalty and build trusted brands through direct,
personal, easy, and immediate communications. A Sequoia-backed company,
Clickatell is headquartered in Redwood City, CA, and has offices in
South Africa. For more information, please visit:
http://www.clickatell.com/central/campaigns/redir.php?cid=47605
CONTACT: Kelly Brieger, Press contact, Clickatell USA
Tel:+1 650 704 1748
e-mail: briegernet@sbcglobal.net
Nicola Hunt, Press contact, Clickatell SA
Tel: +27 21 910 7700
e-mail: nicola.hunt@clickatell.com
((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information
provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties.
Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at
http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to
info@m2.com)).
Copyright ? 2008 M2 Communications Ltd.
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