News Letter - Speed Remit

Issue 2, Volume 1
APRIL-2011
From the CEO's Desk...
“In continuation to my last
edition's article on innovation,
this month I would like to focus
on how services could make a
difference to the customer in
the service industry like ours.
It has long been recognized
that overall profitability of a firm
may be greatly influenced by
focusing on not only at the topline by improving sales but also focusing on the bottomline by lowering over-all cost of delivering services. A
company may greatly benefit through proper reengineering of processes and remodeling the same if
required to improve productivity at each stage. To
understand services better, lets elaborate:
Editorial Board
Ÿ
Ÿ
There are five I's of services:
Ÿ
Ÿ
INTANGIBILITY, i.e., services cannot be touched.
They are experiential in nature. An important
implication of this is that quality of the offer can often
not be determined before consumption or use.
Example to support this is, treatment by a doctor
would be a favorable experience only after
experiencing it.
Ÿ
INCONSISTENCY which implies that different
customers have different demands and
expectations. Service providers need to have an
opportunity to alter their offer to closely meet the
requirements of the customers. This feature is also
known as VARIABILITY.
EDITOR
Nazakat Mastan
INSEPERABILITY which describes another
important characteristic of services that the
simultaneous activity of production and
consumption being performed. This also can be
supported with an example; Automated Teller
Machines (ATMs) may replace the banking clerk for
the front office activities like cash withdrawal and
cheque deposit. But at the same time, the presence
of the customer is required and his/her interaction
with the process has to be managed.
GROUP EDITOR
Sudhakar Rao
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Abhishek Pillai
Arnold Katipunan
Deepali Sohanpal,
Dhiraj Chandana
Kumar Bhagat
Mudassir Khan
Nasim Shirsekar
Susindran T.R.
Victor Fernandes
SNAPSHOTS
Raymond, Praveesh
CREATIVE INPUTS
Sagar Chandiramani
ADVT & PUBLISHING
Oiduts Digitalism
INVENTORY (Less), i.e., services have little or no
tangible components and, therefore, cannot be
stored for a future use. This means that the demand
and supply needs to be managed as the service has
to be performed as and when the customer asks for
it. This feature can also be termed as
PERISHIBILITY and can be explained using an
example, a railway ticket can be stored but the
railway journey will be experienced only when the
railways provide it.
INVOLVEMENT which is one of the most important
characteristics of services. It refers to the
participation of the customer in the service delivery
process. A customer has the opportunity to get the
services modified according to specific
requirements.”
Praveen Chandiramani – CEO
Philippine remittances
jump to $18.8 bln in 2010
Attitude Determines Altitude
“Continuing from
my last article
where I wrote a
small speech from
Chetan Bhagat's
heart, I would like to
say that in Life it's
the ATTITUDE that
matters wherever
you are. It is
correctly said that YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES
YOUR ALTITUDE. Given below is the small on-court
interview which will remain etched in my life forever.
Andre Agassi (Former Tennis Great and one of my all
time favourites) was having a great run at the
Australian Open where he was the winner in 2000,
2001 and 2003 (Mind you he didn't play in 2002
because of injury). When he was playing in 2004 and
after one of the matches which again he won there was
an on-court interview by Jim Courier (JC) which
normally is the tradition in Australian Open. Here is the
verbatim
JC – Man, this is amazing. This guy doesn't seem to
loose here
AA – Thanks
JC – I want to ask you a question. Hypothetically, whom
will you support if your son is playing in the semi-final of
the Australian Open V/s the son of Kim Clijsters and
Leyton Hewitt after lets say 20 years AA – Jim, I wanna
say that assuming my son would be pitted against and
Kim & Leyton's son in the semi-final after 20 years and
God Forbid if he looses then I wanna tell him that son I
would be awaiting him in the final.
And the crowd erupts after they hear the above words.
Some people might call this as good sense of humour
but the one thing that reflects behind is his ATTITUDE
and that the only reason why this interview would be
etched forever in my mind. I mean at 33 that man had
so much of attitude and it was so refreshing that it may
make some youngsters embarrassed.
Although he lost that year, he won the hearts of many
through his game, through his demeanour.”
LOVE YOU Andre……….
Kumar Bhagat
KEEP CONVERTING
A businessman, a hard-worker, has been working full day
and night as far as possible, and so he has accumulated
huge wealth during his lifetime and it has exceeded more
than 10,000 Cr. of rupees. He does not want to lose his
wealth even after his life since, after all, it is his own hard
earned money. So he decides to carry all his wealth to the
Heaven after his life. Is it possible in the real life? If so, can
any one suggest a suitable way? and how?
Yes. It is possible.
If the businessman wants to visit U.S., his wealth, in terms
of rupees, has no value in U.S. So he has to convert his
wealth into U.S. Dollar, an acceptable currency over
there.
Similarly, if he wants to carry his wealth to the Heaven, he
thus needs to convert his wealth into acceptable currency
in the Heaven.
Then, what is the acceptable currency in the Heaven?
PUNYA (Good Deeds).
How will you acquire then?
Just converting your wealth by donating to any
charitable purposes such as helping poor, orphans,
destitute, handicapped, old-aged-people and the
victim of any natural calamity like earthquake, flood,
tsunami, etc., so that you will get an acceptable
currency in the Heaven and accordingly you will be
treated as a prosperous man in the Heaven.
So convert your effort and knowledge into money
(wealth) or service and then again convert that into
PUNYA.
When we are born, we are innocent. Then we go to
school and college to acquire knowledge. Here our
innocence is converted into knowledge. Then we go
out, seek job, do business, work hard and earn
money. So our knowledge is converted into money
(wealth). Let us not stop there believing money is the
final target in our life. There is something more. Let us
convert money into PUNYA by helping and doing
service, which enhances human value.
CA T.R. Susindran
By AP
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Remittances of Filipinos
working overseas — a crucial source of income for
many families in the Philippines — rose 8.2 percent
last year to $18.76 billion, the central bank said
Tuesday.
The increase was higher than the forecast growth of 8
percent, said central bank Governor Amando
Tetangco Jr.In 2009, Filipinos abroad sent $17.34
billion home.
Nearly 10 percent of the Philippines' 94 million people
work abroad, and the money they send back to their
families fuels domestic spending and economic
growth.
The major factors behind the increase in remittances
were the wide range of countries that Filipinos are
working in, demand for their skills and improved
access to money transfer services.
Financial products like web-based remittance
services, automated remittance machines and
reloadable cash cards contributed to the resilience of
remittances throughout the year, a central bank
statement said.
"The stable flow of remittances continued to provide
strong support to domestic demand," the central bank
said.
Remittances in 2010 were close to 10 percent of the
country's gross domestic product, it said.
For December alone, remittances grew by 8.1
percent to $1.69 billion.
The major sources of remittances in 2010 were the
U.S., Canada, Saudi Arabia, U.K., Japan, United
ArabEmirates, Singapore, Italy, Germany and
Norway.
Arnold Katipunan
Company News
QMS in service industry
Everyone tends to resist change, but companies that
delay in establishing a quality management system
will find they increasingly become less competitive
and less effective in markets where customers
demand trouble-free products and services.
In every organization, both management and the
general workforce tend to resist change, whether it
be in systems, culture or environment. That is natural
- people are usually happy to continue with what they
have always done. The change brought about by the
introduction of a quality management system (QMS)
- particularly in service industries - is no exception.
However, companies that resist this change will find
that they become less effective, and thus less
competitive, in markets where customers demand
trouble-free products and services.
To address the resistance, it helps to look at the
questions that stakeholders may have about QMS in
their company:
Ÿ
"Why do we need to document a process?”
Ÿ
"Why do we need an organization chart?”
Ÿ
"Why do we need version control and
document control?”
Ÿ
"Do we need QMS if we only have 100 or less
employees?”
Ÿ
"Does QMS provide any internal efficiency or
is it only to provide a competitive advantage?”
These are the questions that all stakeholders need
answered before embarking on the journey of
installing a quality management system in their
company. In addition, there are other questions
mainly for the management of the company. Here
are two important ones:
Ÿ
Does leadership want a quality management
system for some type of certification, or does
it really want the company's work to have a
systematic process-oriented approach?
Ÿ
Does leadership understand how the current
"pain" areas can be minimized or eliminated if
the company has more efficient processes?
A System for Developing or Improving Processes
Establishing a quality management system is not
rocket science. The intent of any QMS is simply to
provide a system for developing or improving
processes through a structured approach, effective
deployment and better control. Answering a couple
of the stakeholders' questions can help explain this
and make the need for a quality management system
more clear.
"Why do we need to document a process?" Some
might argue that everyone knows the process and
has been trained in how to do their work, so why
document it? The response must be that in service
industries, especially in a high-attrition environment
like business process outsourcing (BPO), it is all the
more imperative to have documented processes.
Documented processes help in the following ways:
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Processes are optimized when best practices
are documented.
Processes do not become person-dependent any new employee knows how to do the work.
Key activities run smoothly when responsibilities
and accountability is clearly assigned.
Defects are easier to capture and eliminate at
the earliest stage.
Prescribed corrective actions can be taken as
soon as defects occur.
Written changes in procedures and policies
reduce ambiguity and increase change control in
the environment.
Consistent process measures help gauge if
everything is going well.
Better understanding of processes ensures
compliance in service delivery.
S.R. celebrated annual function on 7th Jan'11
In Jan'11 Speed Remit has added new agent in
Nepal for Cash payments.
Ÿ Last quarter SR had a valuable tie-ups/sign -ups
with strategic agents from countries like Australia,
China, Ecuador, UAE, Senegal, Nepal &
Philippines.
Ÿ Speed Remit, in its expansion plan, has setup
another office in GCC - Qatar
The following staffs joined SR
Ÿ Deepali Sohanpal as Head -HR & ADMIN
Ÿ Victor Fernandes as Business Head -India
Ÿ Rajila Iyer as Asst. Manager -Accounts & Treasury
Ÿ Feby Baguisa as Sales Executive
Ÿ Naeem Irfaan as Sales Executive
Ÿ Annahita Baria as Asst. Manager -Customer
Support
Ÿ Feroz Khan as BDO -HK
We extend our warm welcome to them in SR Family !!
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
The quality management system not only provides a
structure and framework, it also ensures the rigor of
an audit mechanism that enforces corrective action.
Continuous improvement happens within all
processes in a systematic manner.
The Basis of Quality Management System
A quality management system works on eight key
principles:
1.
Customer focus
2.
Strong leadership
3.
Involvement of people
4.
Process approach
5.
System approach
6.
Continuous improvement
7.
Decision making based on facts
8.
Creating value for the company, its clients
and its
suppliers
Many times companies embark on a methodology
like Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma or others to solve
problems without realizing that these methodologies
center on process improvement. For any
improvement methodology to be successful, it is
important to first have a process management and
process measurement system. This helps in
identifying defects and then, once a process is
improved, a quality management system provides
better control for sustaining outstanding
performance.
Nazakat Mastan
Staff Accolades - best wishes !!
s Sagar P. Chandiramani, s/o Praveen Chandiramani
(CEO) and CBSE topper from the Commerce
stream 2009, successfully completed his CA-Inter
(examinations).
s Dhiraj Chandana, Manager -Treasury, tied the
nuptial knot on 28th Jan'11.
s Basharit Rafique, Manager - S/w development,
tied the nuptial knot on 20th Mar'11
s Bikramjeet Sohanpal, s/o Deepali Sohanpal (Head
- HR & Admin) stood 3rd in class III 'C' -Springdale
Indian High School, Sharjah
s Niyaz Sheikh, Systems Administrator - IT, obtained
Microsoft certification on Implementation &
Maintenance of SQL SERVER 2008
s Mohammed Faizal, Manager Integration , was
blessed with a baby-girl on 29th Dec'10
s Mudassir Khan, Manager Marketing, was blessed
with a baby-girl on 12th Dec'10
s Mayuri Pol, Accounts Executive, tied the nuptial
knot on 14th Nov'10
s Images in this newsletter contributed by Monish
Chandiramani which were also selected for page
backgrounds in Our Own English High School's
annual magazine 2011.
s Umraan Mastan received Silver certificate for
Commendable Academic Performance in Grade-III
of Our Own English High School.
Remittances to Developing Countries Resilient in the Recent Crisis
WASHINGTON, DC, – Remittances to developing
countries were a resilient source of external financing
during the recent global financial crisis, with recorded
flows expected to reach $325 billion by the end of this
year, up from $307 billion in 2009, according to the World
Bank's latest Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011.
Worldwide, remittance flows are expected to reach $440
billion by the end of this year.
The World Bank estimates that, after recovering by the
end of this year, recorded remittances to developing
countries will rise further in 2011 and 2012, possibly
exceeding $370 billion in two years' time.
“Remittances are a vital source of financial support that
directly increases the income of migrants' families,” said
Hans Timmer, director of development prospects at the
World Bank. “Remittances lead to more investments in
health, education, and small business. With better
tracking of migration and remittance trends, policy
makers can make informed decisions to protect and
leverage this massive capital inflow which is triple the size
of official aid flows,” Timmer said.
The top remittance sending countries in 2009 were the
United States, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Russia, and
Germany. Worldwide, the top recipient countries in 2010
are India, China, Mexico, the Philippines, and France. As
a share of GDP, however, remittances are more
significant for smaller countries—more than 25 percent in
some countries.
While high-income countries remain the main source of
remittances, migration between developing countries is
larger than that from developing countries to high-income
countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Regionally, there is significant variation across
developing regions, with larger-than-expected falls in
remittances to Europe and Central Asia[1], Latin America
and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and
Sub-Saharan Africa regions in 2009. Flows to South Asia
in 2009 grew more than expected, and those to East Asia
and Pacific rose modestly.
“Remittances in 2008 and 2009 became even more of a
lifeline to poor countries, given the massive decline in
private capital flows sparked by the crisis,” said Dilip
Ratha, manager of the migration and remittance unit at
the World Bank. “However, high unemployment is
prompting many migrant-receiving countries to tighten
immigration quotas, which would probably slow the
growth of remittance flows. Also uncertain currency
movements can have unpredictable effects on remittance
flows,” Ratha added.
In addition to crisis-related risks, there are major
structural and regulatory changes in the global remittance
market. Regulations to combat financial crime have
become a roadblock to the adoption of new mobile money
transfer technologies for cross-border remittances.
“There is urgent need to reassess regulations for
remittances through mobile phones and mitigate the
operational risks,” Ratha said.
According to the Factbook 2011, the top migrant
destination country is the United States, followed by
Russia, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. The top
immigration countries relative to population are Qatar (87
percent), Monaco (72 percent), the United Arab Emirates
(70 percent), Kuwait (69 percent), and Andorra (64
percent). Mexico–United States is expected to be the
largest migration corridor in the world this year, followed
by Russia–Ukraine, Ukraine–Russia, and
Bangladesh–India.
Nasim Shirsekar
Viral marketing
Viral marketing
a n d v i r a l
advertising are
b u z z w o r d s
referring to
m a r k e t i n g
techniques that
use pre-existing
social networks to
produce increases
i n
b r a n d
awareness or to
achieve other
marketing objectives (such as product sales) through
self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the
spread of virus or computer viruses. It can be delivered
by word of mouth or enhanced by the network effects of
the Internet. Viral promotions may take the form of
video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames,
ebooks, brand able software, images, or even text
Company News...In Pictures...
messages.
The goal of marketers interested in creating successful
viral marketing programs is to create viral messages
that appeal to individuals with high social networking
potential (SNP) and that have a high probability of
being presented and spread by these individuals and
their competitors in their social networking.
The term "viral marketing" has also been used
pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns—the unscrupulous use of astroturfing on-line
combined with under market advertising in shopping
centers to create the impression of spontaneous word
of mouth enthusiasm
Viral marketing services
Viral marketing services (VMS) include full service
marketing, advertising, and media brokerage. There
are outsourced companies hired for these services.
Like other professional niches, (i.e. lawyer, accountant,
IT), companies are now being sought for their
professional insight and expertise in guerilla marketing
strategies and advanced Internet and mobility
technology in the hopes of providing more leads, sales,
and profits than traditional marketing service providers.
A VMS company will typically create impressions for a
very specific market or audience as defined by a client.
The more impressions created for a client, the greater
the chance of increasing prospective customer
awareness of the client's products or services. A VMS
company's basis of success is based on the ability to
successfully leverage many forms of media to create a
large market presence for the client. A VMS company is
not responsible for searching out leads. Rather, they
are responsible for creating leads through brand
recognition by means of market branding and
innovative advertising services.
Raymond Mendiola
PEOPLE COME INTO YOUR LIFE
People come into your life for a REASON, a SEASON or a LIFETIME.
Once you determine which one it is, you will know what to do for that person. When someone is in your life for a
REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to
provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a
godsend and they are. They are there for the REASON you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on
your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we
must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, therefore, their work is done. The prayer you sent up
has been answered and now it is time to move on.
Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring
you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually
give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, enjoy the time, it is real. But only for a SEASON.
Cebuana Luilliers
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional
foundation. Your responsibility is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all
other relationships and all other areas of your life. It is said that love is blind... but friendship is clairvoyant. Often,
we don't take time to say "thank-you" for the lesson...OR even recognize that these people are special in our lives.
So...Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you were a REASON, a SEASON... or a LIFETIME at WORK.
With Banco De Oro
TESTIMONIALS
Deepali Sohanpal
“I am very much contented with the service “ – Sittie Bainisa Bah Lucman, City Exchange, Qatar.
“Speed Remit has the cheapest sending charges in sending money to the Philippines among others that’s
why Filipinos are using it” – Kazandra Liquigan, Saad Exchange, Fujairah, UAE “Customer Service is great.
They are doing wonderful job“ – Lorena Carrera, Paco Services Sarl, Lausanne
“Speed Remit’s service quality is good and for Inquiry has a good performance (response).
Professionalism and courtesy of the customer service is excellent all query were answer same time” –Lani
Mercado, Al Ansari, Kuwait “Overall, I am satisfied with Speed Remit service” – Jessa Marticio, Al Bader
Exchg, Abu Dhabi.
We appreciate your excellent support in arranging Cash Pickups for the remittances, particularly in the GCC countries that is
worth mentioning - SAIYED ASAD MEHDI - ALMANA EXCHANGE CO, Doha, Qatar.
Say Bye To Pollution
Dixon receiving Employee of the Month award.
Office party
Photo courtesy : Raymond, Praveesh
Make Happy Earth
By Monish Chandiramani
Word Search
With the summer hitting us early this year…
Hears a crossword preparing you to face the hot sun…
Find and circle all of the summer words that are hidden in the
grid. The remaining letters spell an additional summer item.
BRAIN-WASH
Summer
ANTS
AUGUST
BARBECUE
BASEBALL
BEACH
BEES
BICYCLE
BLUE SKY
BOATING
BREEZE
CAMPING
S
U
D
O
K
U
FISHING
FLIES
FLOWERS
GARDENING
GOLF
GREEN GRASS
HAT
HIKING
HOLIDAYS
HOT
ICE CREAM
3
5
2
8
7
9
7
1
1
4
5
8
Humor, At its Best….
4
3
5
3
7
3
SUNBURN
SUNGLASSES
SUNSCREEN
SUNSHINE
SUNTAN
SWEAT
SWIMMING
U V RAYS
WASPS
WATER FIGHTS
WATERMELON
JULY
JUNE
MOSQUITOES
NO SCHOOL
PICNIC
ROLLER BLADES
SANDALS
SKATEBOARD
SOCCER
SOLSTICE
SPRINKLERS
2
7
7
9
8
7
2
4
3
5
Human : What is a century like to you?
God : It is like s second.
Human : What is billion dollars like to you?
God : Like a penny.
Human : Can i have a penny?
God : Sure, just wait for a second..
Teacher : What are some products of the
West Indies?
Student : I don't know.
Teacher : Of course, you do. Where do
you get sugar from?
Student : We borrow it from our
neighbour.
Wife : Dear, can we have dinner now?
Husband : Ok, what are my choices?
Wife : Dear, You you choose between
Painting by Deepali Sohanpal
Man : I could go to the end of the world for
you.
Woman : Yes, but would you stay there?
Man : I offer you myself.
Woman : I am sorry I never accept cheap
gifts.
Man : I want to share everything with you.
Woman : Let's start from your bank
account.
Solution
Yes or No!
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For Comments & Suggestions, Contact Us:
Speed Remit
Worldwide
[email protected]
[email protected]
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