MDA broker VAT waiver on charity text message donations with MNO's

The Mobile Data Association delivers dedicated Charity SMS Short Codes and introduces a framework for managing donations through mobile network operators

London, United Kingdom – July 27th 2009 The Mobile Data Association, the notforprofit mobile trade association, has today announced a major breakthrough for the UK charity sector for donations via mobile. The move means charitable donations sent to a dedicated short code will have the VAT waived for registered charities.

The new framework means charities of all sizes will be able to receive an additional 15% (standard rate of VAT) for donations sent via text message. In the past this has only happened for large national charitable events such as Comic Relief. Mobile users can donate up to £10.00 by either sending a text message to a Short Code or by using Payforit, a recognised UK standard for mobile payments.

Central to the new framework is an allocation of a dedicated range of numeric Short Codes to be used for charity donations only. Any fivedigit SMS Text Message Short Code beginning with the number 70 (seven zero) is now automatically considered a charity code which can be allocated to charities eligible under the rules of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. The framework has been approved by UK MNOs (mobile network operators), 3, Orange, TMobile, Telefónica O2 and Vodafone. It enables VAT usually charged by mobile network operators to be passed directly on to the charitable organisation.

Martin Ballard, Operations Director of the MDA, who has driven the initiative, said: “This is a really fantastic development both for the UK charitable sector and a great example of the mobile industry collaborating for a good cause. Mobile is a powerful way for people to support and donate to charities and this development makes the whole process clearer for all parties.”

“Sending an SMS message is known to have mass appeal because of the simple user experience across devices. Our hope is that reducing consumer barriers will benefit a range of charities in need of a new, modern and instant fundraising channel. It should also provide welcome benefits and price transparency for those involved across the mobile industry.”

Judging the eligibility of charities will be the responsibility of service providers, using the HMRC Charity Search facility presently found at http://www.HMRC.gov.uk/charities/charitiessearch.htm . Organisations can register with HMRC directly for inclusion. Charity Short Codes will be allocated initially by the relevant MNO.

Mobile Network Operators and Mobile Data Aggregators, which have also been involved in the Framework’s development, will offer a normal commercial service which attracts VAT. Only the donation proportion of a payment is VAT free. “Each operator had its own set of issues to tackle with processes and billing systems. This is an excellent result and a good starting point to move forwards.” Ballard concluded.

The full document, The Mobile Data Association Framework For Charitable Donations, can be downloaded from the MDA website: http://www.themda.org/

About The Framework For Charitable Donations

All donations to charities that qualify under HMRC rules will use shortcodes in the 70xxx range which have been set aside for charity use only.

Qualification of donation under HMRC rules means nothing given in return (e.g. ringtone or wallpaper, with the exception of an acknowledgement text message)

Charities must be listed on the HMRC website

Existing qualifying donation schemes will need to migrate to these new codes
The scheme is NOT a free to use scheme the MNOs and aggregators are offering a normal commercial service which attracts VAT. The donation element is the VAT free element of this.

Each MNO / Aggregator will negotiate their own terms in the normal way and they have the absolute right to refuse to provide a service (e.g. if they consider it might not be in the best public interest etc)

Short Codes will be allocated by the holding MNO

The scheme will be reviewed and updated in the light of experience

The scheme covers future technologies and other payment mechanisms

TaskMaster enterprise mobility technology to launch on Microsoft’s Azure Services Platform

Internet-scale services platform hosted by Microsoft set to harness TBS Enterprise Mobility software

DERBY, United Kingdom – July 15th 2009

TBS, the leading provider of enterprise mobility solutions, has announced that its TaskMaster software will be deployed across Microsoft’s Windows Azure Services Platform, following the confirmation of pricing for the service at the 2009 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans this week.

Microsoft technologies have always formed the foundation of TaskMaster, which enables organisations to manage the delivery, inspection and collection of assets; ensures compliance through workflow mapping; and provides real-time activity updates using GPS information.

TaskMaster will migrate to the Azure Services Platform by early 2010, giving an advanced application hosting solution with virtually unlimited processing and storage capacity. Microsoft’s Azure platform employs a cloud operating system for hosting approved developer services that can be used to build applications from consumer web to enterprise. Jon Poynton, Commercial Director at TBS commented: “The cost of data centers has increased exponentially over the last few years because of rising energy prices. Azure offers us the chance to host our applications at very reasonable rates and with expert support.” A hosted software-plus-services solution was created by TBS for TaskMaster in 2006 and run from a number of its own leased datacentres. This guaranteed availability, reduced average deployment time by 75 percent and lowered setup costs for smaller businesses.

But the enterprise mobility sector, which caters for a range of industries from utilities to logistics, demands agile development together with maximum customer service assurances. Therefore, from early 2010, Azure’s enhanced hosting environment will provide TaskMaster with increased benefits of capacity, cost, support and efficiency.

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Notes to editors

TBS Enterprise Mobility

1. TBS Enterprise Mobility was founded in 1993 to bridge the strategy gap between call-centres and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and the vital component of customer satisfaction: the fieldworker.

2. TBS TaskMaster is an innovative enterprise mobility suite designed to eliminate costs and inefficiencies associated with paperwork, and drive consistent adherence to business processes.

3. The TBS mission is to swiftly develop and deploy effective enterprise mobility solutions.

4. TBS Enterprise Mobility’s clients span from the construction and automotive sector through to utilities-management and public sector councils. 5. Please visit http://www.tbsmobility.com/ for further information.

Azure

1. The Windows® Azure™ Platform is an internet-scale cloud computing and services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers. It provides a range of functionality to build applications that span from consumer web to enterprise scenarios and includes a cloud operating system and a set of developer services.

2. Fully interoperable through the support of industry standards and web protocols such as REST and SOAP, Azure services can be used to build new applications or to extend existing ones.

Press Contact
Mark Hawkins
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