Author: Archive

Western Union, Banco do Brasil Renew Agent Contract

Posted by | Jul 11, 2008 | |

Western Union renewed its Agent contract with Banco do Brasil last week. Western Union’s Agent relationship with Banco do Brasil dates back to 1997.
Through this renewed five-year contract, Western Union maintains a solid network of 5,400 Banco do Brasil Agent locations throughout the country, retaining its powerful reach and presence throughout Brazil.
Renewal of the contract underscores Western Union’s excellent relationship with Banco do Brasil over the past decade, and highlights the emergent opportunities of the international money transfer business in Brazil.

Read More

NZ Post Joins the iPhone Revolution

Posted by | Jul 11, 2008 | |

New Zealand Post and Kiwibank are set to join the international info tech revolution associated with the launch of the iPhone. The next generation 3G iPhone is a combination of mobile phone, iPod for music and video, and pocket-sized access to the internet.

The technology provides opportunities to more effectively deliver information and services to customers.

Kiwibank has designed a version of its internet banking to “fit” the iPhone perfectly. Conventional websites can be challenging to operate on the small iPhone, but Kiwibank’s site has been reconfigured for simple viewing and rapid access to account information.

Customers will be able to view account balances and transaction histories and be able to make transfers between accounts and credit cards. This service is immediately available to Kiwibank internet banking customers.

New Zealand Post is working with Kiwibank on mapping technology using the iPhone Assisted Global Positioning System (A-GPS) functionality to determine location, via GPS or by triangulating a position using Wi-Fi and cellular towers, to provide information on postal and related services.

This will enable customers to use the phone to locate the nearest PostShop for postal and banking requirements, and will complement the development of improved technology for accessing popular online tools, including those for looking up addresses and retail services.

Read More

TNT delivers DVDs across India

Posted by | Jul 11, 2008 | |

TNT has partnered with the online DVD rentals and sales company Movie Mart in India to distribute DVDs countrywide using its integrated air and roads network.

Under the agreement, TNT is expected make the services of Delhi-based Movie Mart available in 300 cities and towns it is operating in.

Movie Mart, which claims to be India’s first online DVD rentals company, eyes a 30% of the DVD rentals market within five years. It plans to set up its own stores in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata in order to provide its DVD rental service on a national level.

“We now make sure our DVD’s are delivered safely and on-time using the TNT’s integrated air and roads network. We aim at becoming a specialised website into DVD rental and selling, online downloads, home video rights and movie production. Currently, we deliver to an average of 8,000 customers in Delhi on a daily basis,” said Movie Mart CEO, Rahul Mansharmani. “Movie Mart expects about one million subscribers all over India in next 3 to 5 years time,” he added.

Read More

UPS Asia Business Monitor 2008:

Posted by | Jul 11, 2008 | |

Even though small and medium-sized business leaders in Asia Pacific view their Thai counterparts as less competitive than last year, Thai business leaders are confident about their own growth prospects. According to the UPS Asia Business Monitor 2008, optimism remains strong with 60 percent of Thai small-to-medium enterprises, or SMEs, expecting to do better than they did last year and 52 percent expecting an increase in their workforce.

The UPS Asia Business Monitor is an annual survey that has tracked the competitiveness of SMEs, across 12 countries in Asia Pacific since 2005. Forty-four percent of the 1,201 SMEs leaders in the survey rated Thai SMEs prospect for growth in 2008 as good, a drop from 50 percent in 2007.

According to the survey, the greatest growth opportunities are found in Manufacturing, Automotive and Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing. However, the most lacking areas are in government support, the ability to innovate and access to overseas markets.
Also lacking for the SMEs is the use of effective supply chain management in their businesses. Fifty percent of the Thai SMEs surveyed are either under-utilising, neglecting or not using supply chain management in their business.
The UPS ABM 2008 identified a critical shift in the top three business concerns of Thai SME leaders. In 2007, Thai SMEs were most concerned with the quality of products and services. This year, the issue of political and economic stability (57%) is keeping most Thai SMEs awake at night, followed by retention of quality employees (55%) and customer loyalty/retention (46%).
Regarding drivers for the recovery of Thai economy, Thai SMEs feel that education (59%) and government support (47%) will most help the economy recover and catch up with its neighbours.

Read More

Global integrators keep driving up fuel surcharges for air express

Posted by | Jul 11, 2008 | |

Top express companies including DHL, FedEx, UPS and TNT have further increased their fuel surcharges for air express shipments in July as a result of dramatically rising oil prices around the world.
DHL Express hiked its US air express and international fuel surcharge to 34 pct for the 29 June – 2 August period compared to 30 pct in June and 27 pct in May.
In Europe, DHL currently has an air express surcharge of 20 pct, up from 18.5 pct in June and 17.5 pct in May. In Asia Pacific, DHL’s fuel surcharge has risen from 21.5 pct in May and 23.5 pct in June to 26.5 pct in July.
FedEx Express increased its fuel surcharge for US domestic, import and export shipments to 32.5 pct for the July 7 – August 3 period from a previous 28 pct in June and 25 pct in May. In Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEA), the FedEx fuel surcharge was hiked to 20 pct for July 7 – August 3 from 18 pct in June and 17 pct in May.
In Asia, where its surcharges vary by country, the July export shipment fuel surcharge in Singapore is 24.5 pct, up from 22 pct in June and 20.5 pct in May. The import shipment fuel surcharge for July is 26.5 pct, up from 24 pct in June and 22.5 in May. In Hong Kong, the FedEx fuel surcharge for exports and imports is 24.5 pct for July, up from 22 pct in June and 20.5 pct in May.
UPS has increased its US domestic and international air express fuel surcharge to 32.5 pct effective July 7 from the previous 28 pct applied in June and the 25 pct charged in May. In Europe, UPS hiked its fuel surcharge for express and expedited shipments to 20 pct from July 7 onwards from the previous level of 18.5 pct in June and 17.5 pct in May. In Asia, the UPS package service fuel surcharge went up to 24.5 pct on July 7 from 22 pct in June and 20.5 pct in May.
TNT Express increased its European fuel surcharge to 21.5 pct for the June 30 – 3 August period from 20 pct in June. In the UK, where it has different fuel surcharges, the global express surcharge went up to 13 pct in July from 11.5 pct in June. The separate UK domestic and economy express surcharge increased to 6.5 pct in July compared to the June and May figure of 5.5 pct. In the rest of the world (excluding the Americas), the TNT surcharge is at 27 pct for July compared to 23 pct in June. In North America, its fuel surcharge rose to 34.5 pct in July from 30 pct in June.

Read More

USPS wants quality over quantity

Posted by | Jul 11, 2008 | |

After years of managing volume, the U.S. Postal Service wants to instead manage mail quality, according to Hamilton Davison, Executive Director of the American Catalog Mailers Association.

Davison’s information stems from discussions with Postmaster General John E. Potter during ACMA’s National Catalog Advocacy & Strategy Forum last month. Potter suggested then that the USPS may soon become a much smaller organization that would not longer be handling more than 200 billion pieces a year, including 50 billion flats.

A big concern for catalogers remains the threats of do-not-mail legislation, as laws have been proposed in several states. Davison said Potter indicated that the responsibility will be in the hands of the mailer to clean up its lists. And that’s especially going to be a wake-up call for business-to-business mailers who have a harder time tracking career moves than consumer catalogers do residential change of addresses.

“I think do-not-mail has a spillover into the b-to-b community, though it’s really in the hearts and minds of the consumer,” Davison said. “Whether the consumer is in the home or the office, if it gets the message that catalogs are bad, that’s a real problem for us. We need to be proactive and do the right thing, and be on the right side of that issue.”

Read More

Swiss Post: a simple solution for secure electronic letters

Posted by | Jul 11, 2008 | |

Swiss Post is inviting customers to test its new and simple solution for sending secure e-mails on www.incamail.ch. Thanks to IncaMail 2.0 (beta name), e-mails can now be sent (with proof of sending), and the content encrypted so it cannot be viewed by third parties. Upon request, Swiss Post will confirm dispatch and receipt of an item to the sender in the form of a PDF file. Companies and individuals can use the web-based solution without installing additional software. The service, which will be free in the beta phase, is particularly suited to the exchange of highly confidential information of a legal, financial or health-related nature.

With IncaMail 2.0, e-mails can be exchanged securely and easily and can also be traced – similar to a registered letter – without having to install additional software. Customers enjoy the electronic convenience and the reliability, discretion and experience of Swiss Post for the secure conveyance and delivery of confidential documents.

Both individuals and companies are invited to test IncaMail 2.0 now as a beta release at www.incamail.ch. During the pilot phase, the platform will be available free of charge to all interested users for private or business purposes. The productive and commercial launch of the application is planned for the end of the year. The definitive product design and pricing will be communicated at this time.

Read More

TNT's annual report 2007 (by segment)

Posted by | Jul 10, 2008 | |

According to TNT’s annual report 2007:
revenues in € mln
Mail Netherlands 2,551
European Mail Networks 1,002
Cross-border Mail 527
Data and Document Management 154 +
Total Mail Operating Revenues 4,234

– Mail accounted for 38.4% (€4,234 mln) of TNT’s group operating revenues (€11,017 mln).
– Mail accounted for 52.5% (€626 mln) of TNT’s group operating income (€1,192 mln).

– Mail Netherlands accounted for 23.2% (€2,551 mln) of TNT’s group operating revenues (€11,017 mln).
– Mail Netherlands operating income is non-disclosed information.

According to USO-report 2006 (report 2007 not yet publicly available) in € mln:
– USO total revenues 1,703
– Reserved area revenue 999
– USO operating income 345
– Reserved area operating income 167
Generally speaking it is estimated that USO (reserved) revenues 2007 change `marginal compared to 2006 and USO-operating income might end significant under 2006 level.

More information available at http://group.tnt.com/annualreports/annualreport07/downloads.html

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

How ready do you feel for the de minimis changes coming in July?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!




View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest