TotalSend, an email, sms and payments specialist, announced today that Tracy Surkont has been named as the new Managing Director of the company. The mobile industry innovation stalwart and entrepreneur will lead a well-established team from the company’s Cape Town headquarters and will focus on expanding TotalSend’s existing product set of email, SMS and payment solutions.
The appointment comes after TotalSend added push payments to its product portfolio, which enables consumers to make easier and more efficient payments at the click of a button. Surkont believes that “By enabling merchants to push payment-enabled SMSs and emails to consumers, TotalSend removes the complexity by allowing payments for goods and services to be received much faster and without having to resort to that cumbersome staple of business life, the EFT.”
Speaking on the appointment, she said that “TotalSend piqued my interest. SMS, email and chats with easy payment links embedded in the message is a brilliant way of collecting money,” she says.
The new MD is eminently-suited to the role with WASP (wireless application service provider) industry experience built on a telco product development pedigree. Experience in IP messaging, social media consulting and mobile start-ups rounds off an impressive set of corporate and entrepreneurial credentials.
She explains: “Because our carrier-grade SMS platform offers global text message delivery with direct connectivity throughout Africa, an obvious focus area will be TotalSend’s rapid expansion into new territories. In addition, while we can already settle and acquire payments with all major banks, we’ll be looking at adding new payment options that speak to the mobile consumer’s increasing need for convenience.”
The company’s electronic communications and e-payments solutions are already finding growing favour within the banking, marketing, financial services and retail industries according to TotalSend. They also believe that consumers appreciate the simplicity of TotalSend’s push payments tool which enables them to click on a link and be directed to easy payment options. The manual process of adding merchants as EFT beneficiaries before payment can be completed is totally eliminated.
“My focus with mobile has always been on the bottom line. I enjoy adding value by paying attention to the return on investment that mobile products, services and apps can deliver. With TotalSend’s suite email, SMS and payment solutions that make collecting the rands and cents so much easier for both parties, I believe we’ve got a winner that deserves global attention,” concludes Surkont
Staff Writer
