Brands/Products
Sparkle Nigeria Introduces SMS Alert Fees
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Customers of Sparkle Nigeria, a financial technology (fintech) company owned by Mr Uzoma Dozie, the former Managing Director of the defunct Diamond Bank Plc, will start to pay for receiving notifications of their transactions on the platform.
A notice to customers disclosed that the payment for the alerts would commence from May 1, 2021, and it would be the standard N4 per SMS charged by GSM network providers in the country.
However, users of the platform were given the option to choose how they intend to be notified of every transaction carried out by them.
“We wanted to share this important update on changes to our transaction fees.
“Sparkle launched with the aim of leveraging technology and data to remove barriers and create simplicity.
“We extended this to how we keep you updated on the different activities that happen within your account.
Over the past year, SMS notifications have remained free, however, from May 1, 2021, Sparkle will begin charging for these alerts,” the notice seen by Business Post disclosed.
What this means
According to the company, this development means on the first day of each month, SMS charges from the previous month will be debited from the accounts of customers.
This charge is a flat fee of N4 per SMS received each month and users will not be charged for all other forms of account notifications like push notifications and email.
“But we have some sparkling news! We are giving you the freedom and flexibility to choose how you get notified.
“Simply go to more>> notifications >> select your notifications preference and you can choose to toggle off SMS notifications,” the disclosure explained.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Airtel Nigeria has introduced a new television commercial to showcase the exceptional benefits of its Home Broadband connectivity.
The Airtel Home Broadband offers a Basic package, with unlimited internet and up to 40Mbps download speed; the Standard package, with 100Mbps download speed; the Entertainment package with=200Mbps download speed; the Professional package with200Mbps download speed; and the Infinity package, which offers up to 1GBps download speed.
To let subscribers know how all these packages can allow them to enjoy unlimited internet access, Airtel Nigeria contracted the services of a popular Nollywood actor, Eyinna Nwigwe.
The movie star played the character of a young man navigating through his daily remote work routine and how he manages to maintain a balance between his work and personal life, staying effortlessly connected with his business associates and loved ones across the globe.
“The high-speed internet and reliable connection of the Airtel Home Broadband makes it the preferred choice for those who require a reliable connection and access to data.
“This offers users the ease and speed to access websites, stream videos, and download files. Moreover, the network’s reliable connection ensures that users experience fewer disruptions in their online activities.
“As such, this makes it the go-to option for those who need a dependable connection to get their work done or stay connected with friends and family,” the Chief Commercial Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Mr Femi Oshinlaja, said of the benefits of the Airtel BroadBand.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Some routers loaded with 100GB of data and a two-month roll-over access fee have been donated to a government-owned secondary school in Lagos, Kuramo College, by employees of Airtel Nigeria.
The items were given to the school by Airtel employees under the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, Employee Volunteer Scheme Initiative.
The routers, specifically donated by the Airtel Information and Technology team, are expected to aid digital learning in the school and boost the knowledge of the students.
“Airtel aims to empower young minds by equipping them with the connectivity to imagine and unlock a world of knowledge and opportunities.
“For Airtel, it is no longer about being a smartphone network but giving people a reason to imagine so that people can explore the possibilities powered by technology and connectivity.
“The world is evolving; young Nigerians now have access to unlimited possibilities and can now create their job titles and descriptions, which is why we now have YouTubers, social media Influencers and the likes,” the Director of Information and Technology at Airtel Nigeria, Mr Seun Solanke, said.
He encouraged the students to maximize the provision of connectivity to back up their future imaginations with the right information and resources to ensure a bright future.
The activities under the Airtel Nigeria Employee Volunteer Scheme, said Airtel management, aligns with the company’s commitment to bridging the digital divide in the country and enabling students to leverage the power of the internet, as the distribution of routers with data plans will ensure that students have uninterrupted access to educational resources, research materials, and online learning platforms, regardless of their socio-economic background.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
More and more people are embracing the products of Zoho Corporation, a leading global technology company, as the company now boasts more than 90 million users across more than 600,000 global businesses of all sizes.
Also, the organisation has recorded a three-year CAGR of 65 per cent in mid-market and enterprise segments, representing one-third of the entire business.
This is because of the steady upmarket growth Zoho is recording across the Middle East and Africa region, with its seventh office in Nairobi, Kenya, officially launched.
It was observed that Zoho is witnessing an uptick due to its investments in go-to-market services, new products, platform extensibility, privacy and security to improve the customer experience and enable success.
The Country Manager for Zoho Nigeria, Mr Kehinde Ogundare, said, “With our strong DNA as a technology platform company, we have been able to steadily improve our maturity and readiness for large organisations by investing in adjacent areas.”
“Our humble roots in SMB have helped us systematically build powerful software with strong everyday usability.
“Across our products, extensibility, usability, packaging, and go-to-market approach, Zoho aims to be the simplest enterprise software vendor in the market,” he added.
Speaking further, he said, “Today’s announcement serves as a testament to that goal, helping our customers adopt more of our software, add new capabilities, extend our platform to suit their granular workflows and get ready for the future.
“Whether customers buy our software for one department or the entire organisation, one workflow or a collection of customer journeys, the experience with Zoho will be far simpler than with any other large vendor.”
Zoho said it aims to expand EBS across skills, industry depth, and regional presence to help enterprise businesses manage their technology stack better in today’s economic climate. EBS provides expertise to large organisations across solutions engineering, account management, and customer success.
The platform accepts payment in over 15 currencies worldwide, facilitating global procurement efforts for enterprise organisations with regional operations through unified multi-currency invoicing.
