Author: Archive

Irish company launches mobile banking, ATM solution

Posted by | Jan 18, 2008 | |

Banks will now be able to reach customers on any mobile phone without the customer having to download special software, according to Ireland-based Kinzna Ltd., which specializes in mobile-Internet solutions.

Kinzna has launched a product that allows bank customers to view statements and account histories, receive alerts on account activities and overdrafts, monitor deposits, access loan statements, transfer funds and pay bills. Other value-added services include a branch and ATM locator, currency rates and mobile-phone top-up.

The product, called mobileBank, does not use WAP (wireless application protocol), nor it is restricted to a certain set of customers who use a specific mobile device or subscribe to a certain mobile operator. MobileBank conforms to industry best practice in the area of secure transmission of private customer data. It protects users’ data in three ways. Each time customers access mobileBank, they must authenticate themselves. No personal data, including account numbers, are ever stored on the phone or the mobileBank system. And all data exchanged between the phone and the bank has 128-bit encryption.

“With mobileBank, there is no need for client-software download,” said Isam Khalaf, Kinzna’s managing director. “Banks can offer mobile-banking services to all customers, and customers can enjoy the service, irrespective of whether they are using a mobile phone, PDA, XDA, Black Berry or any other device.”

MobileBank also can be interfaced with an already operational ATM-management system over ISO 8583 interface and act as an ATM.

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Postcomm launches access review consultation (UK)

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

The focus of the access review is the current framework under Condition 9 of Royal Mail’s licence and the operation of access agreements. This new consultation is the first phase of an access review and aims to identify what problems – if any – exist with the current access framework. Later phases will consider the remedies needed to resolve any problems, as well as how to implement them.

Notes for editors

On 15 January 2008, Postcomm published an industry letter setting out scenarios for the future of the price control and regulation, including how Postcomm intends to take forward work covering price regulation, wholesale equivalence, cost transparency and access. As part of that consultation, Postcomm wants to consult on how effectively current access arrangements (as established under Condition 9 of Royal Mail’s licence) are working. This follows on from a commitment made in Postcomm’s “Strategy Review: Emerging Themes” report, published in August 2007, in which Postcomm said it planned to undertake a wide review to determine how well access had operated to date and to consider whether the introduction of an Access Code could be an efficient way to address potential concerns regarding non-price forms of discrimination for access users.

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Splitting of Royal Mail operations proposed (UK)

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

Royal Mail’s postal operation could be split in two under proposals put forward by the postal regulator to increase competition and reduce the burden of regulation.

Postcomm has written to all postal operators, organisations representing mail users and Postwatch, the consumer watchdog, asking them for their views on five options for regulating the industry from 2010.

Two of the options involve the principle of “wholesale equivalence”, which would split Royal Mail’s collection arm from its delivery arm by creating separate business units. That would make it easier to eliminate cross-subsidies; ensuring competitors had equal access to Royal Mail’s network, which they rely on for final delivery to homes and businesses.

At present, equal access is ensured by regulating a range of Royal Mail prices, including what it charges competitors for final delivery. This means 77 per cent of the state-owned operator’s revenues are controlled by Postcomm – a split, it says, could reduce the proportion to as little as 15 per cent.

This would be similar to the approach adopted by Ofcom, the media regulator, to reduce the regulatory burden on BT by requiring it to separate its retail operation from Openreach, the wholesale arm that handles calls for other telecom companies.

Postcomm said a split was unlikely to be effective in creating a level playing field for competitors unless the two organisations were physically separated. The businesses would need different management incentives, for example, so that the delivery arm was encouraged to offer equal service to Royal Mail and competitors.

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Kumho-Asiana Offers USD 4.2 Billion for Korea Express

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

Kumho-Asiana Group, owner of South Korea’s largest builder and second-biggest airline, bid more than 4 trillion won (USD 4.2 billion) for control of Korea Express Co. to add cargo-delivery and warehousing services.

The group offered in the “lower range of 4 trillion won” and is set to be named as the preferred bidder, Oh Min Seok a spokesman judge at Seoul Central District Court, said by phone today. The bidding group includes about 10 companies, not all of which are controlled by Kumho-Asiana, he added.

The bid is at least 70 percent higher than the court’s minimum for South Korea’s biggest logistics company, in receivership since 2001. Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., Kumho-Asiana’s largest affiliate, fell the most in three years in Seoul trading on concern the deal may damp earnings growth.

Kumho-Asiana Group, which also owns Asiana Airlines Inc., received the highest score in an initial evaluation of four bids submitted for the Korea Express stake, the Seoul Central District Court said today. The group may be named as preferred bidder as soon as tomorrow.

Kumho-Asiana Group, controlled by Chairman Park Sam Koo, is South Korea’s seventh-biggest family-run industrial group by assets, with 35 affiliates as of Jan. 2, according to South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission. Along with Samsung Group and LG Group, it is one of the country’s so-called chaebols that grew up after the Korean War.

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The Slimming Down Of Royal Mail

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

As Postcomm examines the way in which deregulation of postal services in the UK is progressing, one proposal being considered is the splitting of Royal Mail’s collection and delivery service. All those involved in the postal business are being asked for their opinion in order that Postcomm can put together a workable plan for the next phase of deregulation.

Royal Mail still holds the monopoly on postal delivery in the UK and it seems likely that this will remain so in the future, but Postcomm is trying to ensure that competitors have equal access to Royal Mail’s delivery network wand at the same time reduce the amount of red tape which Royal Mail is currently governed by.

Certainly the postal market will continue to evolve – and not without problems either. Last year saw a bitter dispute between Royal Mail and its workforce over plans to restructure working hours, pay and conditions to enable it to compete and whilst some degree of victory was heralded by both sides, the changes at Royal Mail, like the entire postal market, are probably the tip of the iceberg.

Perhaps the concept of splitting Royal Mail would push it further towards privatisation but for the moment, there seems little appetite for a complete sell-off and all previous attempts to do so have been scuppered by back benchers and the unions. It would just upset too many people.

That said, the gradual changes are being seen by many as a stealth approach to a sell-off, gradually bringing Royal Mail to a position where there is no other way forward. At the moment, Royal Mail is a state owned postal service chaired by a man with commercial experience and radical ideas, but so far, Allan Leighton’s ideas to modernise the business are to some extent, being held back by regulation and a union-entrenched workforce. However, the gradual erosion of Royal Mail’s monopoly and with Postcomm now lowering the licence fee for smaller operators to a mere fifty quid, the CWU will find itself with less and less to hang on to.

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Azkar opens in Cadiz its first mixed plataform in Andalucia

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

Azkar has opened a new shared user site in Cadiz, more specifically in Puerto de Santa
María, to 10 km from Jerez, and 20 Cadiz capital and San Fernando, as well as 100 km
from Seville by the AP-4 and 12 km from the airport of Jerez de la Frontera. This is the first joint facility for logistics and distribution company opens in Andalusia. They have invested EUR 2.8 million in this site which is their third shared user facility in operation.

The warehouse measures 10.000 m2 and occupies a plot of 5,435 m2. The facility is split
into two sections with the smaller section dedicated to transport and distribution. Parcels
can be automatically read from a conveyor belt and scanning system and the WMS offers
a full range of classification types for the storage of pallets.

The new logistics platform provides excellent transport capability. A mixed fleet of 22
trucks will provide all movements from long distance work to local pick-up and delivery.
The on-site team consists of 41 staff; in logistics and in the warehouse.

The new facility has, with berthing piers 36, 14 and route for heavy vehicles and 22 units
for sharing package, featuring a total fleet of 21 vehicles for distribution and logistics.

The ship is equipped with automatic classifier parcel of 2 inputs and 3 outputs with reading system to three sides.

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Analysts hand DHL bad new year's forecast (U.S.)

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

Worldwide shipper DHL is doomed to fail in the United States unless it radically shifts its business model, two well-regarded investment firms say.

Now, Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns separately contend that DHL could eventually contract out operations to competitors, abandon its domestic delivery routes or sell off its U.S. operations entirely.

Facing U.S. operations that lost USD 900 million last year, the company’s new chief financial officer has “indicated the group needs to have a structural solution to U.S. losses” by March 6, according to the Morgan Stanley report.

“While we can’t respond to speculative reports, we have made a commitment to the U.S. market because of its importance to our overall global (DHL) Express strategy,” spokesman Richard Gibbs said in an e-mailed statement.

DHL, owned by German-based Deutsche Post, has spent billions of dollars to build up its domestic presence.

Nonetheless, U.S. operations lost USD 900 million last year and analysts don’t foresee a profit this year.

Morgan Stanley foresees three possible solutions:

Deutsche Post should try to sell all of DHL Express or at least the U.S. operations to UPS, FedEx or the U.S. Postal Service

DHL could fly parcels in but contract delivery to FedEx, UPS or the U.S. Postal Service

It could reduce its footprint to metropolitan areas and either contract pickup and delivery in the rest of the U.S. to the three carriers or offer only international delivery.

The first two options are less likely, according to Morgan Stanley.

In a November Goldman Sachs report, the firm said it was unlikely that DHL’s U.S. operation was on track to perform well.

Beh of Bear Sterns said any DHL decision to quit domestic operations would be difficult.

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Competition heats up in the Asian small-parcel market

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

Supply chain professionals being tasked with establishing or managing small parcel networks in Asia report being pleasantly surprised by the coverage and competition from the major parcel carriers. That said, there are some major differences between managing a small parcel logistics networks in Seattle and Shanghai.

Tom Stanton, international supply chain analyst at consulting group AFMS in Portland, Ore. says the three major parcel carriers—UPS, FedEx and DHL—are all investing heavily in the Asian markets, particularly China. He says the three are competing for reputation and market share in Asia just as fiercely as they do in the U.S., but from perhaps different positions.

Stanton says DHL has been in Asia the longest and the company claims to have as much as 38 pct of the market and combined the big three hold about two-thirds of the market. All are investing and growing dramatically in Asia. UPS is building a new hub at Shanghai’s international airport. UPS reported more than 20 pct overall business growth in China in the third quarter of 2007, with intra-Asia trade representing the fastest growth.

FedEx aims to begin operations at a USD 150 million hub in the southern city of Guangzhou in December 2008.

Most recently, DHL announced in November it was spending USD 175 million to build its North Asia Hub in Shanghai at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, due to open in the second half of 2010. The hub will be DHL’s sixth in Asia, and will be able to handle as many as 20,000 parcels and 20,000 documents an hour, the company said.

In a Bloomberg interview, Jerry Hsu, DHL’s president of Greater China, said DHL may form a domestic air-cargo venture with a local carrier. The company has held talks with a number of airlines and drawn up a shortlist based on their hubs and gateways, he added.

Beyond the three major small package players, TNT Logistics and APL Logistics may be the only other names recognizable to U.S.-based supply chain managers. The rest of the market is filled in by local and regional Asian firms covering short shipments between factories or businesses.

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