CDS Global, Inc. is a

multinational corporation A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...

based in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, that provides business process outsourcing and

customer data management Customer data management (CDM) is the ways in which businesses keep track of their customer information and survey their customer base in order to obtain feedback. CDM includes a range of software or cloud computing applications designed to give l ...

to various industries worldwide. They handle 710 million consumer

sales promotion Sales promotion is one of the elements of the promotional mix. The primary elements in the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations. Sales promotion uses both media and non-media marketing ...

s, 65 million

customer service Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those who buy or use its products or services, either in person or remotely. Customer service is often practiced in a way that reflects the strategies and values of a firm, and ...

interactions and 1 billion transactions annually, including 180 million payments totalling $7.1 billion, through 16 facilities in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, and the U.K. CDS Global is a wholly owned subsidiary of

Hearst Corporation Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...

and is the largest magazine

fulfillment house Fulfillment house and fulfillment center (Commonwealth English: fulfilment house and fulfilment centre) are modern terms for a packing warehouse. The terms were coined in the middle of the 1990s: "fulfillment center" usually refers to an in-hou ...

in North America.

History

In 1971, ''Look'' magazine built a computer system that, for the first time, stored the names and addresses of their customers on magnetic tape. Two months later, when Look ceased publication, six employees took this new fulfillment service to Edward Downe, Jr., publisher of Ladies Home Journal and The American Home. He agreed to be their first client, and owner, opening Downe Computer Services April 1, 1972, with 172 employees. In 1977, the

Charter Company The Charter Company of Jacksonville, Florida was a conglomerate with more than 180 subsidiaries that was in the ''Fortune'' 500 for 11 years beginning in 1974 and ranked 61st in 1984. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in late 1984, e ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, bought out Downe Communications’ stock and renamed the company Charter Data Services (CDS). Hearst Corporation acquired two Charter Company properties in 1982, '' Redbook'' and CDS, which they rechristened Communications Data Services and then, in 2007, CDS Global. The number of magazine titles served increased as CDS Global acquired other fulfillment companies, including Tower Publishing and Optima in the U.K. and INDAS in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Electronic payment capabilities were expanded when CDS Global acquired PayDQ in 2011.

Divisions

CDS Global supports 1,141 brands with

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

, order management,

order fulfillment Order fulfilment (in American English: order fulfillment) is in the most general sense the complete process from point of sales enquiry to delivery of a product to the customer. Sometimes, it describes the more narrow act of distribution or th ...

payment processing A payment processor is a system that enables financial transactions, commonly employed by a merchant, to handle transactions with customers from various channels such as credit cards and debit cards or bank accounts. They are usually broken dow ...

and document presentment services.

Media

CDS Global is the largest magazine fulfillment

service provider A service provider (SP) is an organization that provides services, such as consulting, legal, real estate, communications, storage, and processing services, to other organizations. Although a service provider can be a sub-unit of the organization t ...

, managing more than 1,000 print and digital magazine titles.

Non-profit

CDS Global provides donations processing, donor acknowledgements, marketing services and customer service to non-profits.

Higher education

CDS Global provides gift processing, donor/alumni acknowledgements, fulfillment services and customer service to higher education institutions.

Consumer products

CDS Global provides ecommerce and web store services, including cross-selling and conversion marketing.

Utilities

Public utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

use CDS Global’s

electronic billing Electronic billing or electronic bill payment and presentment, is when a seller such as company, organization, or group sends its bills or invoices over the internet, and customers pay the bills electronically. This replaces the traditional meth ...

and payment services, with additional support for

resource management In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or ...

cash flow Cash flow, in general, refers to payments made into or out of a business, project, or financial product. It can also refer more specifically to a real or virtual movement of money. *Cash flow, in its narrow sense, is a payment (in a currency), es ...

and

regulatory compliance In general, compliance means conforming to a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. Compliance has traditionally been explained by reference to deterrence theory, according to which punishing a behavior will decrease the viol ...

Services

Customer service

Customer care agents deliver mail, online, email, chat and phone support, for billing, sales and level-one technical issues.

Data

CDS Global manages 159 million customer files for nearly 60 percent of the publishing industry and advises businesses on transactional, communication and service best practices.

Ecommerce

Client-branded web stores are supported by order management, payment processing,

warehousing A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

, fulfillment, distribution and

Mailing

Services include printing, personalization and presorting of acknowledgements, bills and renewals.

Marketing

710 million personalized print and digital communications, delivered via email, mail and phone. 95,000 online marketing pages managed.

Order management and fulfillment

In addition to physical product delivery, CDS Global handles subscriptions, recurring billings, digital access,Raphel, T.J.
"Seamless Integration Is An App Must-Have"
''Audience Development'', July 13, 2011 and account services.

Payment

CDS Global supports paper, electronic, mobile, walk-in and

interactive voice response Interactive voice response (IVR) is a technology that allows telephone users to interact with a computer-operated telephone system through the use of voice and DTMF tones input with a keypad. In telephony, IVR allows customers to interact with a ...

options with: * Electronic bill presentment and payment * Lockbox and remittance processing *

Online banking Online banking, also known as internet banking, virtual banking, web banking or home banking, is a system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial institut ...

and bill payment consolidation * Bill printing and mailing services *

Data capture Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) refers to the methods of automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering them directly into computer systems, without human involvement. Technologies typically considered ...

and image archive

Warehousing and distribution

Facilities in the U.S. and the U.K. provide

inventory Inventory (British English) or stock (American English) is a quantity of the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying ...

management, kitting and assembly, integration and

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cds Global Companies based in Iowa Companies based in Des Moines, Iowa Business software companies Business process outsourcing companies Payment service providers Outsourcing companies Marketing companies of the United States Customer relationship management software companies Hearst Communications assets