Vodafone has increased take-up of its employee sharesave scheme after enabling staff to apply by sending a text message.
The mobile phone company has seen a 12% year-on-year increase in the number of staff signing up for sharesave, with 27% of applications being made via text message.
Employees who applied by text received a real-time response, so within a few minutes they received a message confirming their application and providing them with a reference number.
Debbie Veys, head of share plans at Vodafone, said: "This year was the first time we had offered SMS [applications]. By offering SMS as an application method, we were hoping to make share plans more accessible to employees. So far, feedback indicates that it has been very well received."
Sharesave plan
Vodafone's sharesave plan, which has been running since 1998, is approved by HM Revenue and Customs. Employees are offered a 20% discount on the share option price and can save up to a maximum of £250 over a three- or five-year period.
During the company's communication drive around the scheme, 7,000 staff received an invitation to join the scheme by email and 4,000 received letters through the post. Emails were personalised depending on whether the employee was already a member of a sharesave plan and information was given on how much could be saved each month.
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