NEWSPrepaid Card Holdings Inc. filed a lawsuit against its former Chief Operations Officer and Director, Robert Christiansen, for fraud and concealment, breach of fiduciary duty and conversion. The case was filed Sept. 10, 2009, in the Superior Court in Orange County, Calif. According to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Christiansen had been terminated in a meeting on July 15, 2009, for "irreconcilable differences in opinion" with the majority shareholders. In the same report, Rick Galasieski was appointed to the office of Senior Vice President.
SmartCard Marketing Systems Inc. reported strong interest in its latest offering, the Instant Issue Prepaid Gift Card, with initial sales of 5,800 cards and requests for proposals in excess of 120,000 cards. The company said most of the orders came in from churches, the U.S. government, universities, small retailers and online consumers. They were intended as gifts or for incentive programs.
SmartCard expects to fulfill 35 percent of the 120,000 cards by November 2009, according to Chief Executive Officer Massimo Barone. "The benefit of these short-term card orders brings more consumers opting for reloadable instant issue prepaid cards," he said.
Xerox Corp. will acquire Dallas-based processor Affiliated Computer Services Inc. for $6.4 billion. "By combining Xerox's strengths in document technology with ACS' expertise in managing and automating work processes, we're creating a new class of solution provider," said Ursula M. Burns, Xerox's CEO.
ACS shareholders will receive $18.60 per share in cash plus 4.935 Xerox shares for each ACS share they own. Under the acquisition terms, Xerox will take on ACS' debt of $2 billion and will issue $300 million of convertible preferred stock to ACS' Class B shareholders.
ANNOUNCEMENTSPrepaid card distributor Blackhawk Network, a subsidiary of Safeway Inc., will offer its Rewards Visa Gift Card through Blackhawk Network's Incentives and Rewards business to business program. The customizable card features include variable expiration dates, variable value loads, company logos and branding, and custom card and carrier messaging.
CashX Financial Corp. entered the prelaunch phase of its worldwide money transfer and prepaid card services. The Vernon, Canada-based company also offers global currency exchange services.
Coinstar Inc. closed its public offering of $175 million principal amount of its 4 percent convertible senior notes, which are due in 2014. The underwriters also exercised their option to purchase an additional $25 million principal amount to cover over-allotments. Coinstar issued $200 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes at closing.
FSV Payment Systems Inc. released a savings account program for its PaychekPLUS! payroll service. "With the addition of savings to the many services we already offer - like bill pay, a convenient line of credit, international money transfer, online account management and text alerts - it's like having a bank on a card," said Jonathan Palmer, President and CEO at FSV.
Intercash Europe Ltd. commenced its new card program at EiG 2009, held Sept. 15 to 17, 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Features of the new card include card-to-card transfers and personal loads for corporate and affiliate cards. With Pays2Ways, merchants can rebate cardholders and receive online deposits through Intercash's Card Management System. Intercash also signed deals with Playtech Ltd., Sega Games Ltd., Everest Poker, Forexyard, Income Access and others.
Mocapay raised $3 million in funding from Spartan Mobile, Lacuna LLC's venture capital fund and other investors. Merchants using Mocapay can offer mobile gift and loyalty card programs, which enable end users to transact at the POS, reload gift card accounts, access transaction histories and locate the nearest participating merchant locations, all from mobile phones.
NetSpend released what it said is the "first virtual card to be tied to an existing prepaid debit card account" and online financial management and budgeting tools. With the NetSpend virtual card and online tools, end users can plan, monitor and safeguard their spending, the company said.
Western Union Co. rolled out two new reloadable Visa prepaid cards: Western Union MoneyWise and Gold Card Visa prepaid cards. Western Union said the cards feature low fees, with no monthly maintenance, purchase transaction or customer service fees.
PARTNERSHIPSBBVA Bancomer continues deployment of VeriFone's VeriFone MX ATM payment kiosks. Bancomer, a large Mexican bank, is installing a customized version of the units in one of Mexico's largest drug store chains. In addition to dispensing cash, the MX ATM takes cash deposits and provides value-added services such as bill payment, money transfer, couponing, redemption and reloading of prepaid cards.
To offer a cash payment option to its customers in the Latin American Caribbean Region, the U.K. and Europe, First Atlantic Commerce teamed with Ukash. FAC, an international payment gateway, said it offers alternative payment options in a single interface.
Grameen Carso, a joint microfinance venture of Grameen Trust and Fundacion Carlos Slim A.C., said it now services 265 members, 195 of whom have received their first loans. Grameen Carso's mission is to offer microfinancing to women. The company boasts a 100 percent loan recovery rate and plans to expand throughout Mexico.
PNB Remittance Centers Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Philippine National Bank that serves the Filipino community in the United States, partnered with AccountNow Inc. to launch a new Visa-branded prepaid card. PNBRCI will also convert 20,000 of its loyalty card membership customers to the new card, issued by Palm Desert National Bank.
TIO Networks Corp. furthered its relationship with Nexxo Financial Corp. to offer TIO's expedited bill-payment processing on 100 of Nexxo's Cajeros (cashiers) - Nexxo's kiosks, which also facilitate money wire transactions. Catering mostly to the Hispanic community, the kiosks are located primarily in Latin America and the western United States.
ACQUISITIONSECash Inc. signed a letter of intent to acquire Metahealth Inc., a pharmaceutical development company that specializes in the development and manufacture of generic prescription drugs. The deal is expected to close in October 2009.
APPOINTMENTSChristine Primisch joined private-label gift and loyalty card processor SparkBase as Client Services Manager. As a former Manager Trainer for Restaurants-America, she aided in restructuring the training program and mentored new managers.
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