Meet the Team – Amy Stirk, Account Manager

Tell us about your background and how you came to work at SLA Digital

After I attained a degree in geography from Queens University, I started to work for an event rider exercising his horses, a dream job for someone who has ridden horses for years and competed in various riding competitions. During this time, I completed a 10-week data analytics course with Deloitte and then began to work at SLA Digital supporting the Partner Management team. Over the last 7 years, I have spent my time learning more about carrier billing and our clients and progressing into my role as an Account Manager.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

As an Account Manager, it’s my responsibility to identify and develop new business opportunities with our existing and new clients. This includes understanding the needs and requirements of merchants to help them launch their services in chosen markets or where, based on our experience, we feel their services would be successful. I guide and support merchants through the onboarding process including service approvals, contract negotiations, and integration. Once their services are live, I monitor their performance and work with them on their marketing campaigns to help increase revenues.

I enjoy my role as it allows me to work with different people and cultures from all over the world both within SLA Digital and externally with our clients. We have a great team, who I enjoy working with.

What do you see are the benefits for merchants when working with our Account Management team?

By choosing to work with SLA Digital, our mobile operators and merchants can benefit from the knowledge gained from almost 20 years in the carrier billing sector. Our team is responsive and friendly, and we work hard to build good relationships with our clients. We draw from our experience and help guide clients to what will work for them and what won’t. We offer advice and work in collaboration with our clients to get the best outcome for all parties.

Do you have any advice for merchants when exploring carrier billing for their business?

When exploring carrier billing as a merchant, it is important to understand that carrier billing works on a revenue share commercial model which is slightly different from other payment options. Carrier billing gives merchants the ability to access new paying customers, especially those who are unbanked. When deciding on a specific market to launch a new service in with carrier billing, SLA Digital helps merchants understand the requirements and regulations within each mobile operator and country. The merchant needs to consider their competition to ensure that their offering and pricing align with the expectations of the market. When services are priced and marketed correctly, our merchants find carrier billing to be a very successful revenue stream for their services.

What type of services do you find popular with mobile operators for carrier billing?

Gaming, Video On Demand and Music is still key content for mobile operators when it comes to carrier billing. Gaming and digital vouchers for games remain the most popular segment in most countries and I don’t see this changing anytime soon.

What are the latest trends and service types that mobile operators are looking to onboard for carrier billing?

For a while now mobile operators have been moving away from HTML5 games and traditional VAS services to more premium and branded content to satisfy the demand of their customers and remain competitive in the market. With the 2022 Football World Cup being hosted in Qatar later this year, I believe that football content is going to be quite popular in the run-up to the tournament. In addition to this, more and more operators are requesting online game stores like Codashop and SEAGM, as well as more niche services like ebooks and educational apps. 

How do you see the carrier billing market developing in the future?

Gaming has always been in significant demand for carrier billing. The market has been inundated with games for a while now, leading mobile operators to look for something different in the gaming sector. I believe that the eSports segment will continue to grow, especially on mobile with the ongoing global rollout of 5G and the advent of professional gaming teams over the last few years.

Why should mobile operators and merchants choose to work with SLA Digital?

SLA Digital has been in the carrier billing business for almost 20 years, so we have a wealth of knowledge that we use to help all parties maximise their revenues while minimising risk. We pride ourselves on the great relationships we develop with our clients and partners, offering on-hand support throughout the onboarding and post-go-live phases.