Cellfind, a location-based provider of mobile and wireless application services, has unveiled a solution that lets businesses send accounts to their clients via SMS.
According to Cellfind, the service, called misstatement, allows companies to cut down on printing and postage costs, while also reducing their carbon footprint.
The company says the service is available to anyone in SA with a cellphone. Moreover, it adds that customers have secure access to their accounts via unstructured supplementary service data (USSD), a GSM communication technology that is used to send texts between mobile phones and an application program in the network.
“This solution enables companies to speed up their customer payment cycles, as customers do not need to wait for bills to arrive in the post,” says Jacques Swanepoel, MD of Cellfind. He adds that the service also helps companies send statements to clients with outdated e-mail addresses.
Cellfind points out that the statements are not sent in SMS format, but through a WAP link or USSD string, delivered via SMS. Furthermore, it says there is no need to save the SMSes because the WAP link can be bookmarked, and the USSD string can be saved as a contact. Cellfind says USSD is widely used to process information, adding that it processes about 110 000 USSD transactions each month.
According to Ambrose, potential clients include municipalities and other providers of monthly services. He explains that the potential for these clients to use this service lies in mobile growth, with smart or semi-smart feature phones expected to penetrate 80% of the population by 2015.
“The service is clearly aimed at the large portion of our population who have monthly accounts and mobile phones, but may not have computers, e-mails or even postal addresses,” he adds.
However, Ambrose notes that there are already competing services. Striata, for example, works with banks to offer a secure online statement service.
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