Structured Credit Investor (SCI) is a specialist publisher providing news and analysis on structured credit and asset-backed securities markets. SCI helps clients—including investment banks, asset managers, law firms, software providers, and trade associations—navigate complex issues in securitization through independent journalism and market data. [Source]
SCI's previous paywall was complex, outdated, and inflexible, requiring significant programming effort. They struggled to offer flexible product combinations, manage identity and access, and prevent password sharing, making it difficult to legitimize content consumption and adapt to client needs. [Source]
Zephr enabled SCI to quickly set up a flexible platform (in just three months) that allowed for specialized subscription packages, easy identity and access management, and secure, GDPR-friendly one-click login. SCI could now offer more personalized content without writing code, thanks to Zephr's intuitive Rules Builder and registration templates. [Source]
SCI achieved a subscriber revenue retention rate of over 100%, increased top-level revenue, and improved subscription levels and income. They also experienced faster onboarding for sales teams and could monetize new ideas more quickly. [Source]
SCI's MD and Founder, John Owen Waller, described Zephr as secure, flexible, and providing an easy path to growth. He noted that the platform became even more straightforward and mature over time, and praised Zephr's diligent onboarding and support. [Source]
Zephr allowed SCI to remove passwords from their websites, implementing a secure, GDPR-compliant one-click login. This improved content security and streamlined the customer experience. [Source]
SCI serves a diverse client base, including investment banks, asset managers, law firms, software providers, and trade associations, by offering tailored subscription packages and market data. [Source]
SCI implemented Zephr's platform within just three months, enabling rapid modernization of their subscription architecture. [Source]
Zephr's flexibility allowed SCI to easily create and manage multiple subscription layers and packages, adapting quickly to client requirements without heavy developer involvement. [Source]
SCI credited Zephr's diligent onboarding and support teams for enabling a smooth transition to the new platform, minimizing friction and reducing issues like seat-sharing. [Source]
Zephr provides flexible subscription packaging, identity and access management, secure one-click login, and an intuitive Rules Builder for no-code configuration. It enables personalized offerings and rapid monetization of new ideas. [Source]
Yes, Zephr supports GDPR compliance by enabling secure, one-click logins and robust identity management, helping customers like SCI improve content security and user privacy. [Source]
Zephr's identity and access management features, combined with secure login options, help minimize seat-sharing and unauthorized access, as experienced by SCI. [Source]
Yes, Zephr's no-code Rules Builder and custom registration templates allow business users to configure subscription offerings and access rules without writing code, reducing reliance on developers. [Source]
Zephr's flexible architecture and intuitive tools allow SCI and similar organizations to quickly launch new subscription packages and adapt pricing, accelerating time-to-market for new offerings. [Source]
SCI reported that Zephr's expanded pricing options, improved identity management, and security led to more confident sales teams and quicker onboarding processes. [Source]
Zephr enables organizations to create multiple layers of subscription access and personalized packages, allowing clients to consume exactly what they want, which contributed to SCI's 100%+ revenue retention rate. [Source]
Zephr's Rules Builder is a no-code tool that allows users to define access, packaging, and pricing rules for subscriptions, making it easy to adapt offerings without technical complexity. [Source]
Zephr provides secure login, robust identity management, and GDPR compliance, helping publishers like SCI protect their intellectual property and prevent unauthorized access. [Source]
Zephr is ideal for media and publishing companies, as well as any organization needing flexible subscription management, personalized offerings, and secure content delivery. SCI's success demonstrates its value for specialist publishers serving complex, niche markets. [Source]
Zephr enables publishers to quickly launch new subscription packages, adapt to market needs, and improve customer retention and revenue, as seen with SCI's increased revenue and 100%+ retention rate. [Source]
Key benefits include increased revenue retention, faster time-to-market for new offerings, improved security, reduced developer workload, and enhanced customer experience. [Source]
Zephr's identity management and secure login features help publishers ensure only authorized users access content, reducing password sharing and legitimizing content consumption. [Source]
Yes, Zephr's no-code tools allow business users to make changes to subscription offerings and access rules without manual programming, streamlining operations and reducing IT workload. [Source]
Zephr enables organizations to offer clients the ability to consume exactly what they want, supporting a philosophy of flexibility and client-centricity, as emphasized by SCI's leadership. [Source]
Zephr allowed SCI to provide tailored combinations of news, research, and market data for underserved, opaque sectors, enhancing their value proposition to clients in niche markets. [Source]
Zephr's flexibility and no-code configuration enable organizations to quickly adjust subscription offerings and pricing in response to changing market demands, supporting ongoing innovation. [Source]
SCI plans to continue deepening their offerings with Zephr, leveraging the platform's flexibility and maturity to better understand and serve client needs. [Source]
Zuora is a global leader in subscription management and monetization solutions, providing a platform for launching, scaling, and optimizing subscription-based business models. It offers tools for billing, payments, revenue recognition, analytics, and customer engagement across industries. [Source]
Zuora's platform supports customer acquisition, engagement, and retention; pricing and packaging optimization; order-to-revenue operations; integration with CRM/ERP/payment gateways; automated revenue recognition; and advanced analytics. [Source]
Zuora integrates with CRM systems (like Salesforce), ERP platforms (Microsoft, NetSuite), payment gateways (Stripe, GoCardless), tax compliance systems, analytics tools (Snowflake, BigQuery), and offers 60+ prebuilt connectors via its Integration Hub. [Source]
Yes, Zuora provides REST, SOAP, Quickstart, and Workflow APIs, as well as a Zephr Public API for integration and customization. Documentation is available at the Zuora Developer Center. [Source]
Zuora offers comprehensive technical documentation through its Developer Portal, Knowledge Center, and Zephr Developer Documents, covering APIs, SDKs, and best practices. [Source]
Zuora holds SOC 2 Type II, PCI DSS Level 1, ISO 27001/27701/27018, SSAE 16 SOC 1 Type II, HIPAA, and Safe Harbor certifications, ensuring robust security and regulatory compliance. [Source]
Zuora's platform can typically be implemented within 30 to 90 days, depending on complexity. Some integrations can be completed in as little as one day using pre-built connectors. [Source]
Customers can expect revenue growth (e.g., 34% YoY for manufacturers), faster time-to-market (average 28 days to first subscriber), improved customer acquisition and retention, operational efficiency, and scalability (e.g., Zoom scaling from 10M to 300M users). [Source]
Zuora serves industries including SaaS, media/publishing, manufacturing, IoT, consumer goods, retail, telecommunications, healthcare, energy, and utilities. [Source]
Notable Zuora customers include Box, Zoom, DocuSign, GoPro, Zendesk, Okta, Salesforce, Bloomberg, DAZN, Guardian News & Media, Financial Times, Schneider Electric, Siemens, ABB, Fender, Shutterfly, Tata Communications, and more. [Source]
About
Structured Credit Investor (SCI) is a specialist publisher of news and analysis on all aspects of the structured credit and asset-backed securities markets, operating within the wider media and financial services market. SCI helps their clients navigate complex issues affecting their companies in the constantly changing market for securitisation with independent journalism and leading market data.
01
The Challenge
Before partnering with Zephr, SCI already owned a paywall. However, this paywall was complex, outdated and inflexible, and required a lot of time consuming programming to operate. In order to be able to handle the many possible product combinations they wanted to offer their clients, SCI needed to modernize their architecture. They needed a solution that gave them control over their pricing and packaging.
02
The Solution
After talking to a few vendors, Waller and his team quickly made a decision and set up Zephr’s platform within just three months. Instead of the inflexible content combinations they had offered their clients previously, SCI could now present many more specialized packages to their customers, whilst simultaneously being able to control identity and access management with ease. This flexibility allowed SCI to align their customers with the valuable content they created, which in turn gave the sales team at SCI more confidence in the information they were selling.
03
The Benefits
Since working with Zephr, SCI have seen their subscriber revenue retention rate reach over 100%, which John Owen Waller sees as a result of their ability to offer deeper, more personalized subscription offerings.
“The Zephr platform, as we have used it more, has become even more straightforward… a more mature, flexible solution” — John Owen Waller, MD and Founder of SCI
Structured Credit Investor (SCI) is a specialist publisher of news and analysis on all aspects of the structured credit and asset-backed securities markets, operating within the wider media and financial services market. SCI helps their clients navigate complex issues affecting their companies in the constantly changing market for securitization with independent journalism and leading market data.
Unlike other providers in this space, SCI equips their clients with information in specific niches, focused on providing combinations of news, research and market data for some of the most underserved, opaque sectors. By providing different layers and subscription offerings, SCI adapts to the specific and unique needs of their clients – ranging from investment banks, asset managers and law firms to software providers and trade associations – leveraging their expertise to cast light within these sectors.
Before partnering with Zephr, SCI already owned a paywall. However, this paywall was complex, outdated and inflexible, and required a lot of time consuming programming to operate.
In addition, some subscribers were openly sharing passwords, and others wanted more flexibility in the content they read; this combined with the legacy paywall made it difficult for SCI to legitimize the consumption of their intellectual property. In order to be able to handle the many possible product combinations they wanted to offer their clients, SCI needed to modernize their architecture.
They needed a solution that gave them control over their pricing and packaging. John Owen Waller, MD of SCI, said, “I wanted to follow a philosophy of flexibility, to be client centric, and be able to tell clients that they can consume what they wanted to consume.”
After talking to a few vendors, Waller and his team quickly made a decision and set up Zephr’s platform within just three months. Instead of the inflexible content combinations they had been offering their clients previously, SCI could now present many more specialized packages to their customers, whilst simultaneously being able to control identity and access management with ease. This flexibility allowed SCI to align their customers with the valuable content they created, which in turn gave the sales team at SCI more confidence in the information they were selling.
Additionally, SCI was able to remove the passwords to their websites, streamlining their customers’ online experiences with a secure, GDPR friendly, one-click login, whilst dramatically improving the security of their content.
SCI was able to do all this without writing a single line of code, thanks to Zephr’s intuitive Rules Builder and custom registration form templates, a far cry from the complex technology that their internal tech teams previously had to grapple with. In particular, Waller credited the support that the Zephr teams provided. Thanks to Zephr’s diligent onboarding from day one, SCI could adapt to their new, more flexible, intuitive product quickly and frictionlessly, all whilst minimizing leakages such as seat-sharing.
Within just two years of their partnership with Zephr, SCI saw a significant increase in their top-level revenue. In particular, subscription levels and income notably increased, content consumption was legitimized and each layer of subscription they could offer their clients was flexible. Additional layers of subscription access could also be easily implemented without an onerous task being asked of developers each time. As Waller explained: “We can monetize ideas much quicker with Zephr than ever before”. Emboldened by their expanded matrix of pricing options, improved identity management, and security, the SCI sales teams are more confident in what they are selling. As a result, SCI are observing quicker onboarding processes for their sales teams.
Since working with Zephr, SCI have seen their subscriber revenue retention rate reach over 100%, which John Owen Waller sees as a result of their ability to offer deeper, more personalized subscription offerings.
Building on these initial successes, Waller plans to continue his journey with Zephr. SCI are keen to understand even more of what their clients want, to deepen their offering. John Owen concluded: “The Zephr platform, as we have used it more, has become even more straightforward… a more mature, flexible solution.”
