NEWSThe
Arising out of requests the CFSI received from nonprofits for information about the prepaid card industry, the CFSI and its partners developed the basic primer on prepaid cards. The document outlines ways nonprofits can choose the right kind of programs and provides tips for program success, according to the CFSI.
A report conducted by RSR Research ranked the top 100 online retailer gift cards. The card for The Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. headed the list, followed by CVS Caremark, Amazon.com, American Eagle Outfitters and Sears Holding Corp.
"Gift cards are such an important retail staple, yet many retailers' offerings have not evolved to keep up with the changing needs of today's consumer," said Nikki Baird, RSR Research Analyst and co-author of the report titled The Digital Divide: Digital Gifting Among Top Internet Retailers.
"This is an enormous missed opportunity for retailers, especially as we enter the most critical gifting season of the year," Baird added. The study was sponsored by digital gifting and incentives company CashStar Inc.
In Indian Payment Card Market Forecast 2010, a report issued by India-based research firm RNCOS, the prepaid card market in India is touted as among the most promising payment areas in the South Asian country.
"Industry players have been actively participating in prepaid card segment development to ensure their early presence," RNCOS said. "ICICI Bank, for example, has emerged as one of the largest players in the Indian payment card segment focusing on domestic payroll cards, international travel cards, as well as prepaid fleet cards."
ANNOUNCEMENTSThe Winnipeg, Canada-headquartered Great-West Life Assurance Co. selected health care benefit card provider Evolution Benefits Inc. to implement a benefit card program in Canada. The Visa-branded cards will enable health care spending accounts by allowing group insurance plan members direct access to funds through the card, EB said.
College of the Holy Cross, a liberal arts college in Worcester, Mass., selected Heartland Payment Systems Inc. to implement the OneCard campus card program. The Crusader OneCard, an ID card as well as payment card, will provide students, faculty and staff access to on- and off-campus services, such as copy and vending machines, laundry and dining services on-campus.
To give Latino workers an alternative to check cashers and other alternative financial service providers, iGlobal Card introduced the iGlobal Prepaid Visa Card, the company said. The instant-issue cards are offered free of charge to workers and are registered and activated in real-time by employers or customer service representatives.
Green Dot Corp.'s Chief Financial Officer John Keatley was named "CFO of the Year" by the Los Angeles Business Journal in the Small Public Company category. Keatley has served as CFO at Green Dot since October 2006; he guided the prepaid card company through its initial public offering in July 2010.
MoneyGram International moved its corporate headquarters from Minneapolis to Dallas. MoneyGram said the move is part of its global initiative to reduce costs, streamline global operations and position the company for long-term success. The headquarters relocation will be effective Nov. 1, 2010.
Tampa, Fla.-based processor nFinanSe Inc. rolled out $3 Visa Inc.-branded and $3 Discover Financial Services reloadable prepaid debit cards at Cumberland Farms convenience store locations in New England, the mid-Atlantic and Florida. The cards come with $2.95 top-up fees, real-time text message alerts, online bill pay, 99-cent ATM withdrawal fees and direct deposit, nFinanSe said.
Additionally, nFinanSe rolled out the same Discover product in Fred's Hometown Discount Stores in the Southeast and Midwest.
Online prepaid voucher provider paysafecard group opened a new office in Mexico. The European prepaid company said its move into Mexico is part of it plans to expand its online voucher service throughout Latin America. The company already has an office in Argentina.
PlaySpan Inc., operators of the monetization-as-a-service payments product UltimatePay and the Ultimate Game Card, said it achieved Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliance and Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 (SAS 70) certification.
Person-to-person (P2P) money transfer service provider uMonitor, a division of Parsam Technologies, stated that its uTransfer Release 5.0 is now fully deployed among all of its existing financial institution clients. The service allows for P2P money transfers via email and mobile phones.
Vesdia Corp., a provider of multichannel merchant networks and shopping incentive services, celebrated its 10th anniversary. Since its inception in 2000, Vesdia has experienced a compound annual growth rate of 116 percent and has helped consumers earn more than $100 million worth of rewards, the company said.
Money transfer specialist The Western Union Co. unveiled an enhanced walk-in payments service at its U.S. flagship location at 1440 Broadway in New York City. The service offers consumers the ability to pay mortgages, auto loans and credit card balances, as well as utility, insurance and phone bills, the company said. In other news, Western Union said its agent network in Africa now exceeds 20,000.
Wolfe.com LLC, owner and operator of websites for prepaid card services, entered the general purpose reloadable (GPR) prepaid card market with the MasterCard OmniCard. It allows cardholders to make purchases and access funds wherever debit MasterCard cards are accepted, Wolfe.com said.
PARTNERSHIPSGift card processor Givex Corp. reported it integrated its gift card program into the ISD Payment Switch of payment management software provider ISD Corp. The integration enables merchants using the ISD Payment Switch to take advantage of Givex's gift card program to drive customer acquisition and sales, Givex said.
Under an agreement between MoneyGram and on-demand bill pay processor BillingTree, the money transfer company will provide same-day, cash payment services at approximately 35,000 MoneyGram agent locations nationwide under the brand name BillingTree PaynCash.
Mobile payment firm mopay Inc. integrated its mobile platform with the e-commerce gateway of GTS Online Solutions Ltd., Gate2Shop, to target unbanked consumers with digital and virtual offerings.
Payment Card Technologies teamed with Cheque Point to relaunch the Cheque Point Prepaid MasterCard. PCT and Cheque Point combined to offer enhanced product functionality to both new and existing cardholders. PCT believes the partnership with Cheque Point will help PCT expand internationally.
Prepaid mobile payment company RegaloCard entered into a distribution partnership with online payment gateway iPayStation for a micro money transfer initiative. The partnership allows RegaloCard to place its products in the stores that utilize iPayStation's gateway to facilitate bill payments, money transfers and mobile top-ups.
SmartCard Marketing Systems Inc. signed an agreement with three companies, including The GoodNetwork System Co. Ltd., creator of the L.E.A.P. Learning System, to provide at least 100,000 prepaid cards per year in a five-year project to introduce financial education materials in tandem with the cards to over 20 million school children in the GoodNetwork's group of affiliated schools.
Western Union made a pact with shipping company DHL Worldwide Express to introduce international business payment services to DHL customers throughout Europe. Additionally, Western Union teamed with EnStream LP, creators of the Zoompass Mobile Wallet, to allow Zoompass users to send cross-border and domestic money transfers directly from mobile phones.
ACQUISITIONSFifth Third Processing Solutions LLC, the third largest U.S. acquirer, purchased certain assets of prepaid processor Springbok Services Inc., which filed for bankruptcy in July 2010. Among the assets acquired was Springbok's reloadable prepaid card processing platform.
Wright Express Corp. reported that it had completed its acquisition of the Australian assets of Retail Decisions Inc.(ReD). The assets consist of ReD's fleet and prepaid card businesses. Wright Express said the purchase will advance its long-term vision of providing both payment processing and card issuance services internationally. 
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