SMSGH has now rebranded to Hubtel. The event took place at the Holiday Inn. SMSGH started as a messaging service which later included sending/receiving money. Hubtel provides services to clients through mobile devices such as bulk messaging alerts to pioneering mobile banking and online payments. Started by three University graduates in 2005, the company now has huge customer base that goes beyond Ghana.
Representing the Vice President of Ghana, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, Mr Augustine Blay, Executive Secretary at the office of the Vice President said more than 400 businesses use Hubtel daily to deliver over 6 million interactions with over 21 million consumers. This is where, he says, technology and socialisation merge to create a digital commodity. He described Hubtel as not settling for third world standards, thus giving them an opportunity, when they were SMSGH, to be names amongst top twenty technological start ups in Africa by the Forbes magazine.
"Today we are gathering here because Hubtel has grown beyond Ghana, has set up in new markets and continues to help customers to rethink customer service across the continent. They have outgrown both the SMS and the GH in their name. This is clearly a proud story of a digitally made in Ghana that is globally deployed," Mr Augustine Blay.
Speaking at the launch Mr Alex Bram, Chief Executive Officer, said Hubtel has a quiet fan base in Ghana which includes banks, telecommunication companies, utility companies amongst others. "Since our founding on the 12th of May 2005, our mission has been to make it easier for companies to connect with their customers”. He said though statistically SMSGH was bound to fail, considering their inexperience and the environment at the time, they were successful in moving the company forward. "These are the best times in history to be alive. Empowered by technology, humans are now connecting across borders and cultures. We are living in an extra ordinary time." He said “think about it, our biggest problems here in Ghana are due to poor organization of information and poor organization of the things, events and activities around us.”
“Our new brand marks a new era in which we set higher standards and goals for the value we deliver to our customers as we continue to deepen our o?ering.”
“As Hubtel, we have carefully reinvented our products into intuitive everyday services. Today we introduce our customers to our new Hubtel platform which hosts all our services, on one single integrated and user-friendly platform.” He thanked customers for their patience throughout their transition.
In outlining their products , the Chief Techonolgy Officer, Mr Kwadwo Seinti said they have managed to shake the foundations of this country using mobile money and transactional messaging.
Hubtel’s products are:
Unity – Leverage telco channels like free and premium SMS and USSD to deliver your services to customers
Gratis – Rewards loyal consumers for engaging and transacting with businesses that use Hubtel.
Notify -Enables bulk messaging to as many mobile subscribers via SMS and Voice.
Vend – Businesses leverage our fast- growing network of service points to deliver everyday convenience services.
POS – Enables businesses to manage inventory and accept payments via cash, mobile money and bank cards.
Ads – Businesses discover, find and engage new customers via Hubtel Ads.
Automate – Facilitates the delivery of repeated future messages, reminders and prompts.