Author: Archive

TNT appoints GM to helm Asia Road Network expansion

Posted by | Apr 30, 2007 | |

TNT has appointed David Stenberg as general manager of its Asia Road Network.
He will be responsible for the growth and expansion of the road network — which currently spans Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand — to Indochina and China this year.

Prior to this appointment, Stenberg was the country operations manager for TNT in Indonesia. He has also held various positions with TNT in five markets where he was responsible for operations and special services.

The road network expansion marks TNT’s strategic intent to expand its presence in Asia, particularly in key emerging markets in the region.

“Since its launch in December 2005, TNT has experienced a steady double-digit growth of the Asia Road Network. The demand for the road service has been largely contributed by small- and medium-sized enterprises that look for alternative transportation solutions to suit their business needs,” Stenberg said in a statement.

As part of the expansion plans, Stenberg will also focus on developing related bespoke services to cater to the diverse needs of the company’s growing customer base across the region.

In a separate statement, TNT said it has won the “Best Road Haulier Asia” award for the third time running at the recent Asian Freight and Supply Chain Awards (AFSCA).

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Royal Mail and Sony DADC unite to fuse traditional post with digital media

Posted by | Apr 30, 2007 | |

Royal Mail is fighting back against increased competition in the advertising market by launching an innovative concept that fuses traditional post and digital media in partnership with Sony DADC.

The innovation enables companies to personalise content-rich and interactive CDs to an individual’s specific needs and interests by inscribing it with a unique code. This means that a company can include videos and information for a wide range of customers but program it so that content is tailored to individual recipients – making it entirely personal and relevant.

The solution, Personalised Integrated Media, enables customers to view the CD on their PC and deal direct with the business, for example by buying goods or services, at the click of the mouse. And for advertisers, the inscription enables them to monitor customer engagement with the CD and determine its impact.

The Sony DADC technology, Postscribed ID_x0019_, enables companies to add depth and media richness to the brand experience at the same cost of a traditional mailing pack; from 360 degree tours of the product to promotional videos or TV advertisements. The inscription enables precise measurability at all stages of the campaign, monitoring which customers have viewed the Disc, when they engaged (date and time), how often, whether they completed the customer journey or at what stage they fell out.

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An Post and Fortis bid for 5% of banking sector

Posted by | Apr 30, 2007 | |

Postbank, a joint venture with Belgian bank Fortis, will initially operate out of 250 post offices nationally, rising to 1,000 over the next 12 months.

The venture will employ 250 people at the outset, 100 of which are new jobs.

Speaking at the official launch of the euro 112 million venture yesterday, Minister for Communications, Noel Dempsey, said that while the financial services sector in Ireland was already highly populated, there was definitely room for a community-based offering from a group such as An Post.

He said that the service offered by many of Ireland’s existing banks was far from customer friendly and that a new banking offering from An Post was very well-placed to benefit from the positive role post offices already play in many local communities.

According to An Post, 40 per cent of adults visit a post office once a week with more than three quarters visiting once a month and these are exactly the people Postbank is seeking to attract as its customers.

From tomorrow consumers will be able to avail of what Ms Sweeney calls a “very favourable” interest rate on a “very simple” deposit account – exact details of which are to be released later today – and another separate investment product at 250 different post office outlets around the country.

Over the course of the year, and in response to customer demand, the range of products will be expanded to include current accounts, loans, credit cards, ATM services and web-based banking.

Postbank is aiming to have a workforce of 500 within the next three years.

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Postbank starts trading this week

Posted by | Apr 30, 2007 | |

Postbank, the financial services joint venture between An Post and international financial services group Fortis, will start trading this week and will provide savings and investment products initially.

According to chief executive Margaret Sweeney, the full range of banking services, including loans and mortgages, will be available in a year.

“We will provide a simple approach to banking – I think that’s what consumers want,” she said.

She added that research has shown that what consumers want is “less confused” banking.

Ms Sweeney conceded that it will be an uphill battle in the already competitive banking market.

Competition in the market has heated up in the past year, with new entrants and online banking services vying for consumer accounts.

However, she added that with over 75pc of adults visiting a post office once a month, Postbank plans to attract a significant proportion of these customers to its banking services.

Ms Sweeney said that products will be very competitive and will offer attractive saving and investment returns, although she would not give any examples.

Postbank will start trading from over 250 post offices tomorrow and full services will be extended to 1,200 post offices in the coming year.

An Post spent a hefty euro 13.9m finding its euro 112m joint venture financial services partner last year and wrote off the expense as an exceptional cost in its 2006 accounts, rather than capitalising the cost in the Fortis joint venture which is called Postbank.

The euro 13,883,000 expense was incurred by An Post “in relation to the process of identifying and selecting a joint venture partner, subsequent negotiations and signing of the (JV) agreement”, according to the recently released An Post annual report.

Postbank expects to have a workforce of 500 people within three years. “This launch brings a new dimension to banking services in Ireland,” Ms Sweeney said.

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Instant money order in Malabar

Posted by | Apr 30, 2007 | |

The Postal Department has launched Instant Money Order (IMO) scheme in the Malabar region of Kerala to provide speedy and hassle-free cash transactions at comparatively cheaper tariff.

”It takes only five minutes to make the payment to the beneficiary and that too at cheaper tariff,” through any head post offices (HPOs) in the country,” Assistant Director N V Balan, coordinating the scheme, said.

He said a sender has to pay only Rs 150 for Rs 1000 to 5,000 and Rs 330 for above Rs 5,000 and upto Rs 50,000 as against the normal five per cent money order charge.

The facility, launched about a month ago, was available in 17 head post offices (HPO) in the region and would be extended to other computerised post offices soon, he added.

The department was in the process of embarking on a advertisement campaign to spread awareness among the people about the scheme, Mr Balan said.

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Self-service evolves with technology

Posted by | Apr 29, 2007 | |

The 24-year-old Grand Rapids, Mich., resident is all about helping herself, which makes her a big fan of self-serve, touch-screen machines.

“I look for one wherever I go,” Johnson said shortly after using a kiosk to order and pay for postage at a Grand Rapids post office. “I’d rather do it myself — get in and get out.”

Devices that let you help yourself with the touch of a screen are spreading, from movie theaters to airports to government agencies. Folks not only can buy groceries and check into flights, they also can renew license plate tags and send express mail.

More than 600,000 self-serve kiosk machines are in use in North America, and retailers and public agencies add more every day, said David Drain, executive director of the Self-Serve & Kiosk Association.

The Michigan Secretary of State’s machines, which are in their second year at some offices, have racked up more than 75,000 transactions in the past year from folks looking to avoid lines.

The same goes for the post office. Use of machines that give 24-hour access to mail services is up 15 percent from last year, with about 58,000 transactions logged in the Grand Rapids area.

Experts say today’s fast-paced, technology-driven lifestyle will only fuel demand for self-serve options.

“I can’t think of how many times I needed something postmarked by a certain day and waited until the last minute,” said Gina Haisma, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service in Grand Rapids.

The same goes for license plate tags.

It took Caledonia, Mich., resident Bill Switzer less than a minute to renew the tags for his Chevy Impala at a machine outside the Secretary of State’s office at a shopping mall. The kiosk was a good option because Switzer’s tags were set to expire in a few days and he had waited too long to mail his renewal slip.

Kiosks also reduce lines, which is always an issue at the budget-crunched Secretary of State’s office, Chesney said.

Chesney said her office is in discussions with other state departments to expand service options on the machines. In the future, customers possibly could get car tags, renew a hunting license, register to vote and register a boat all on the same machine.

“We’re looking at having as many options as possible,” Chesney said. “If it can be done (on a machine), we want customers to have that option.”

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Sri Lanka Postal Department introduces a business mail service

Posted by | Apr 28, 2007 | |

The Sri Lanka Postal Department introduced a business postal service with the increase of postal charges yesterday.

The postage for all business letters under 30 grams is Rs. 15, while the personal postage remains unchanged at Rs. 5. All letters with return addresses of businesses and post boxes, windowed envelopes and envelopes with advertisements will be identified as business letters. All bulk mail will also be considered business letters.

The Postal Department will provide a concession of Rs. 8 for normal mail. It expects to provide a value added service to the business mail. The Postal Department has increased all postages except the normal mail.

Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the Postal and Telecommunication Officers’ Union K.N. Weerasekara said that his union protests the postage amendment. He said that due to the high business postage, people will avoid mail.

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