Author: Archive

Royal Mail helps trace dormant account holders

Posted by | Apr 12, 2007 | |

Royal Mail has developed a solution to help banks and building societies proactively trace dormant account holders using more than 16 million records from its database of home movers.

Using data compiled from its Mail Redirection service over the past 16 years, Royal Mail has tested its dormant account tracing service with a number of financial companies, with a success rate of up to 60 per cent.

The Commission of Unclaimed Assets’ yesterday launched a comprehensive campaign to reunite owners of dormant accounts with their money. This follows the Economic Secretary’s proposal to release unclaimed capital from dormant accounts to a newly created social Investment Bank charged with stepping up the fight against poverty and social exclusion. There is currently an estimated GBP 15 billion in dormant accounts across the UK.

“Tracing lost customers isn’t just an opportunity for financial organisations to demonstrate that they are acting fairly and responsibly towards their customers, it also represents a business opportunity. It will give banks and building societies the opportunity to re-establish contact with customers and encourage them to reinvest the dormant funds or consider other products. The ‘feel good’ factor of reuniting a customer with money they may not be aware of has the potential to improve customer relationships with their financial providers.”

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An Post to offer new products in tandem with bank

Posted by | Apr 11, 2007 | |

An Post will start offering new savings and investment products through its joint venture with Belgian bank Fortis by June and will create 100 new jobs by the end of the year.

The first fruits of the EUR112 million joint venture will initially appear at a cross-section of 200 post offices and will be extended across the 1,300-strong post office network over a 12-month period, An Post said yesterday.

The initial savings and investment products will be followed by a broader range of banking products, including internet banking and ATM facilities, in the autumn.

EBS’s head of strategic planning Enda Devine has been appointed chief financial officer of the joint venture, which is rumoured to be called Postbank but has yet to be officially named. Mr Devine was previously head of finance at EBS.

Margaret Sweeney, chief executive of the joint venture, said plans for the development of the new retail bank were progressing well. Other senior appointments are also in progress, An Post and Fortis said yesterday.

The level of banking services offered will vary from post office to post office, with the full range of services, including on-site product advisers, available only in a small number of the larger post offices.

The 100 new jobs will bring the number of people employed by the joint venture to 250, with the bulk of the jobs in Dublin and Athlone, which is already the base for An Post’s existing personal finance subsidiary, One Direct.

An Post is not putting up any cash for the 50:50 joint venture and is instead contributing One Direct and its bill payment subsidiary PostPoint to the business. These two subsidiaries, valued at EUR56 million, will remain part of the overall network.

Fortis, an international banking and insurance provider with a market capitalisation of EUR45 billion, will pay another EUR56 million to fund the venture.

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Postcomm issues new licence to The Mailing House Group

Posted by | Apr 11, 2007 | |

Postcomm has issued a new licence to The Mailing House Group.

The licence takes into account the requirements of the new licensing framework that came into force on 1 January 2006.

Postcomm on the 11 April issued a new long-term licence to The Mailing House Group Limited.

Under the new licensing framework that took effect from 1 January 2006, the licence would:
allow the Mailing House Group to provide all types of postal service;
be issued for a rolling ten year period;
require the company to comply with codes of practice on mail integrity (safety and security of the mail) and common operational procedures
(designed to ensure the multi-operator market works well in practice).

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Correos to collaborate in the local and regional elections

Posted by | Apr 11, 2007 | |

Forms needed to request a certificate of registration on the Electoral Register are now available at all branches of Correos in Spain. It is essential to obtain this form in order to be able to vote by post in the local and regional elections and other electoral processes that are to be held on Sunday 27 May 2007.

On Thursday 5 April last, the order signed by the Minister of Public Works, Magdalena Alvarez, regulating Correos’ collaboration in the electoral process was published in the BOE (Boletín Official del Estado, Spanish Official State Gazette).

Postal votes may be requested until 17 May 2007 (inclusive). Postal votes must be requested in person by the voter, by presenting their national identity card, passport or driving licence to a member of staff in a Correos post office, who will provide the appropriate form.

Correos will deliver these requests free of charge, as urgent recorded deliveries, to the appropriate Provincial Office of the Electoral Register Office. On receipt of the request, and following the appropriate checks, the Provincial Office will issue the certificate of registration, and will send it, together with the electoral documentation (envelope and voting slip), by urgent registered post to the address indicated by the applicant on the application form. Correos delivers these directly to the relevant person.

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TNT to connect Europe with own freighter aircraft

Posted by | Apr 11, 2007 | |

TNT India Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Netherlands based Euro 12.6 billion TNT NV, is planning to connect India with the European Union and expand domestically this year. The company is looking at either buying or leasing freighter aircraft to launch its international operations out of India.

He said the company, which recently acquired the Hyderabad-based Speedage Express Cargo Services, is also exploring opportunities to extend its domestic air express service to various cities in the country. The company is looking at forming alliances with existing airlines to carry cargo for it.

Currently, TNT is connecting 110 cities on its own and reaching other important centres through its agents and partners. The major verticals for TNT in India are banking and financial services, automobile and auto components, pharmaceuticals, ICT sectors and computing. The company with its newly-launched domestic air express business aims to service these sectors intensively.

“The acquisition of Speedage yielding results very rapidly and we have almost transformed their processes within TNT’s processes. After the acquisition we are growing rapidly. Recently we have added several new clients including Pantaloon and ABB,” Mitra added.

The company had earmarked an investment of Euro 100 million in early 2006. However, with its plans to launch express service to Europe, the investments may be doubled over the next few years. The remaining funds will be used to augment the express delivery infrastructure in the next two years in the country.

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Spain's ChronoExprés opens parcel depot in Andalucia

Posted by | Apr 11, 2007 | |

Chronoexprés, the express courier owned by Spain’s public postal operator Correos, has opened a new depot in the Andalucian province of Jaén.

The 5,500 sqm centre at Guarromán, which started operations this week, will handle some 10 million parcels a year, Correos said, and has 18 van and 8 trailer loading/unloading bays.

“Its location, at kilometre 288 on the A4, is the result of a detailed study to improve the agility of operations – and offer clients an optimum quality service – to and from the south of the country,” Correos said in a statement.

It is part of a EUR 1 billion infrastructure modernisation programme which Correos started in 2001 and has also seen it open 16 state-of-the-art mail hubs across Spain.

The Guarromán depot is the sixth large logistics platform Chronoexprés relies upon in Spain; the others are in Madrid, Barcelona, Vitoria, Zamora and Zaragoza.

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50,000 mail jobs 'set to be axed'

Posted by | Apr 11, 2007 | |

UP to 50,000 postal workers could lose their jobs in the biggest cuts in the history of the Royal Mail.

Almost a third of staff in the letters division could be hit, under plans to modernise the ailing business.

The cuts would be on top of 35,000 jobs which have gone through redundancies over the past five years.

This news comes as talks continue between union leaders and management over demands for a 27 per cent pay rise for working a shorter week. Royal Mail claim it would cost about GBP1billion, money it says it has not got.

An announcement is due next week.

There are reports that up to 30 per cent of full-time staff in the letters division could lose their jobs. With 160,000 people employed on Royal Mail letters, that would mean 48,000 cuts.

Royal Mail dismissed the reports last night, describing them as “speculation”. But they come at a worrying time for the postal giant, which has been forced to make major changes. Opening up the postal market to full competition, at the beginning of the year, has brought a sudden influx of foreign operators.

The new entrants have targeted the business customers who make up the vast majority of Royal Mail’s profits. Money made from bulk mail is used to subsidise the loss-making letters division.

Royal Mail announced an 86 per cent collapse in half-year profits in February, down from GBP159million to GBP22million.

The company loses GBP4million a week on its creaking network of post offices: for every stamped letter, it loses about 6p. Bosses say they have been forced to announce emergency plans to close the final-salary pension scheme to new entrants.

The Government has now stepped in to prop up Royal Mail finances, with a five-year, GBP1.7billion restructuring programme.

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DHL Express appoints Christina Koh

Posted by | Apr 11, 2007 | |

DHL today announced the appointment of Christina Koh as Senior Vice President – Corporate Communications and Sustainability for DHL Express globally. Christina moves into this newly-created position from her current role as DHL Asia Pacific’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Sustainability.

In her new role, which takes effect on 1 May 2007, Christina will be based at the DHL Express global headquarters in Bonn, Germany, and will work closely with the DHL global, regional and country teams in developing and steering the internal and external communications efforts for DHL Express worldwide.

Christina joined DHL Asia Pacific in 2002, where she established the first regional corporate communications division for the company in Asia Pacific. From an initial small team, she built and led a group of communications specialists, and oversaw the communications strategies for the company’s 41 countries and territories in the region. She aligned, coordinated and developed communications strategies for DHL’s Asia Pacific business units – DHL Express, DHL Exel Supply Chain and DHL Global Forwarding – ensuring that DHL continues to strengthen its brand profile as the market leader in the industry.

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