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SellingPrepaid
its kind to be implemented in a major U.S. city. First Data
Corp., the largest U.S. acquirer and the payment processor
for the GPR portion of the card, characterized the launch
as the next step in the convergence of payments, where
cards once used for separate purposes are combined into
one convenient, multifunction payment instrument.
NEWS The Ventra Card is MasterCard Worldwide-branded
and embedded with near field communication (NFC)
Ventra Card goes live in Chicago technology to enable contactless payments.
On Sept. 9, 2013, the much anticipated Ventra Card went The Chicago Transit Authority is managing the program,
live in Chicago. The dual transit and general purpose with the physical, NFC-based POS hardware on Chicago
reloadable (GPR) prepaid card is being called the first of
buses and trains supplied by Cubic
Transportation Systems Inc., a division
of Cubic Corp. The card replaces the
closed-loop, transit-only Chicago Card
and its variants.
More than a fare function
Mark Putman, Senior Vice President and
Division Manager of First Data Prepaid
Solutions, said the Ventra Card is a
substantial upgrade for approximately
25 percent of all Chicago area transit
riders because the card does more than
pay for transportation.
From paying exorbitant fees to cash
checks at check cashing operations, to
paying more fees for money orders to
pay bills, the cost to conduct everyday
transactions is high for underbanked
individuals; Putman stated that it costs
them an average of $30 per month to
access their cash.
Paychecks plus
However, paychecks can be direct
deposited to the GPR "bucket" of the
card and used to pay bills electronically
or get cash out of some 60,000 ATMs in
First Data's Money Network. At those
same ATMs, as well as at Chicago
transit locations and at the retail outlets
of over 700 merchants in the Chicago
area, Ventra users can top up cards.
"So there are a tremendous number of
ways that individuals can use the card
and live like a normal human being,"
Putman said.
24
its kind to be implemented in a major U.S. city. First Data
Corp., the largest U.S. acquirer and the payment processor
for the GPR portion of the card, characterized the launch
as the next step in the convergence of payments, where
cards once used for separate purposes are combined into
one convenient, multifunction payment instrument.
NEWS The Ventra Card is MasterCard Worldwide-branded
and embedded with near field communication (NFC)
Ventra Card goes live in Chicago technology to enable contactless payments.
On Sept. 9, 2013, the much anticipated Ventra Card went The Chicago Transit Authority is managing the program,
live in Chicago. The dual transit and general purpose with the physical, NFC-based POS hardware on Chicago
reloadable (GPR) prepaid card is being called the first of
buses and trains supplied by Cubic
Transportation Systems Inc., a division
of Cubic Corp. The card replaces the
closed-loop, transit-only Chicago Card
and its variants.
More than a fare function
Mark Putman, Senior Vice President and
Division Manager of First Data Prepaid
Solutions, said the Ventra Card is a
substantial upgrade for approximately
25 percent of all Chicago area transit
riders because the card does more than
pay for transportation.
From paying exorbitant fees to cash
checks at check cashing operations, to
paying more fees for money orders to
pay bills, the cost to conduct everyday
transactions is high for underbanked
individuals; Putman stated that it costs
them an average of $30 per month to
access their cash.
Paychecks plus
However, paychecks can be direct
deposited to the GPR "bucket" of the
card and used to pay bills electronically
or get cash out of some 60,000 ATMs in
First Data's Money Network. At those
same ATMs, as well as at Chicago
transit locations and at the retail outlets
of over 700 merchants in the Chicago
area, Ventra users can top up cards.
"So there are a tremendous number of
ways that individuals can use the card
and live like a normal human being,"
Putman said.
24
