April 20, 2007 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Provident Financial has appointed NetNames (http://www.netnames.com) to protect its domain names portfolio, it was announced this week. The company will consolidate the management of around 1,000 Provident Financial domain names including those associated with its Provident and Yes Insurance brands. A senior NetNames account manager will be dedicated to the task.
Provident Financial’s move comes as a measure against cybersquatters, whose activity has increased by 25 per cent over the last year (according to the World Intellectual Property Organization) and threatens Provident Financial’s web presence.
NetNames will provide Provident Financial with its Platinum Service, which caters for over a third of the companies in the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100.
NetNames’ service will protect against “malicious registrations and cybersquatters while ensuring all key domain names, especially those used for customer service are renewed without fail.” The service will centralize management that had previously been the responsibility of the company’s various offices. NetNames will also secure domain names relevant to new Provident Financial products and services.
“The cybersquatting epidemic shows no signs of abating and financial services organisations are among domain name speculators’ favorite targets,” explained NetNames, Chief Operating Officer, Jonathan Robinson. “Provident Financial clearly understands the importance of domain names to its overall business and we’re looking forward to working together to ensure ensuring their domain name strategy fully supports the business’ wider marketing activity and new product development.”
“Internet penetration levels are growing quickly in our Eastern and Central European markets and the web is becoming an increasingly important marketing tool for our International division,” added Provident Financial’s Digital Media Manager, Alison Shield. “Domain names are at the heart of our online growth strategy and are fundamental to our business. We have had great success using campaign-specific domain names to capture public interest for our Provident brand. We’re confident that our online brands are in safe hands with NetNames and that we’re always ready to take advantage of any new opportunities or respond to potential threats.”
