Free e-mail(with perks)sets up in NZ

By ADAM GIFFORD

An Indian free e-mail service that returns 30 per cent of its revenue to regular users has come to New Zealand.

Chequemail.com has registered more than 200,000 users since going live in October last year.

Marketing director Ambrish Desai, who has moved to Auckland to set up the Australasian operations, said more than a third were regular users, compared with the usual free mail-service ratio of between 11 and 17 per cent active users.

Chequemail.com makes its money from advertising and references from its site.

Users must log in to check mail at least 30 times a month, though only three accesses a day are counted. Cheques are sent quarterly.

Mr Desai said 3016 cheques were sent out in the first-quarter, for 117 rupees ($5.91) each. More than 20,000 cheques were sent out in the second quarter, for 167 rupees ($8.44) each. The latest batch of cheques had been held up by a postal strike.

"No user is going to get rich off this, but it is a mark of good faith," said Mr Desai.

"People don't come to us just for the money - a lot of people just use us 15, 20 times a month and continue to do so."

The New Zealand branch would adopt the same model, but as advertising would be paid for in dollars, the payouts would also be in dollars.


Links


Chequemail.com