Editor's Note: SellingPrepaid is excerpted from SellingPrepaid E-Magazine, which can be found at SellingPrepaid.com, a Web site providing information and analysis to benefit ISOs and merchant level salespeople in the burgeoning prepaid market. If you'd like to become involved in SellingPrepaid, please e-mail greensheet@greensheet.com. For more information, visit www.sellingprepaid.com.
NEWSExigent Technology Inc., the intellectual property holding company affiliated with the Blackstone group of companies, settled a patent infringement lawsuit it filed against Prepaid Network Corp. At issue was Exigent's patented multifunction transaction processing system - a POS terminal that printed or activated prepaid cards. The lawsuit alleged Prepaid Network infringed on Exigent's patent. The Miami-based companies amicably settled the lawsuit on confidential terms.
In Weaponizing Loyalty: New Schemes Bolster Bank Competitiveness, Mercator Advisory Group said new rewards/loyalty initiatives will change the competitive landscape of the retail banking industry. By year end 2010, Mercator predicts "360° relationship-based loyalty programs" will constitute the new norm in the financial services industry.
The report examines how to turn customer loyalty into a dynamic feature of consumers' day-to-day financial lives. One challenge faced by program managers is how to convince banks that cash-back rewards programs can give banks their greatest return on investment.
ANNOUNCEMENTSEdo interactive Inc. reported that several Baskin-Robbins franchises have engaged the edo Marketing Platform to deliver incentives to thousands of customers in three Northern California communities - Los Altos, Blackhawk and San Ramon. "Preward" campaigns through the edo Marketing Platform allow companies to demographically target specific debit cardholders by offering them monetary incentives to purchase goods from select stores.
Giftex Prepay Ltd. presented First Data Corp. with the Giftex Prepay Innovation Award at the 2009 Prepaid Expo in Orlando, Fla. The award recognized First Data's role in leading the prepaid industry with new product development, including First Data's GO-Tag contactless product that employs radio frequency identification technology in the form factor of a sticker.
PaySpot Inc. ranked first in all prepaid categories in Hagen Marketing Research Inc.'s Hagen Brand Preference Research Study 2009. The survey polled convenience store chains across the United States to determine what retailers think of the various manufacturers and distributors who call upon them. Sixty-five respondents ranked PaySpot as the top prepaid performer in all categories.
SparkBase has Class A-certified its gift and loyalty card processing application on Hypercom Corp.'s Optimum M4230 mobile payment terminal for the retail and restaurant markets. The certification reportedly enables gift, loyalty and community rewards transactions on the Optimum M4230 to be conducted from virtually anywhere on the SparkBase Network. Additionally, SparkBase released version 3.0 of its private-label network. New functionality includes a redesigned user interface, enhanced simple message service text messaging and e-mail marketing, and an online card designer. An enhanced suite of application programming interface tools is also part of the upgrade.
Travelex debuted the Corporate Cash Passport to allow companies to centralize and better manage employee travel budgets, while reducing administrative overhead costs, providing auditing capabilities and increasing security. The MasterCard Worldwide-branded card is loadable with U.S. dollars and comes with MasterCard protections, such as Purchase Assurance Service and Lost Luggage Service.
UniRush LLC rolled out a new budgeting tool for its Prepaid Visa RushCard. With the new customized budget feature, RushCard cardholders can set spending levels in 14 categories, including auto, dining, health and fitness, and utilities. Members can review spending data in each category and determine adjustments they want to make to achieve their financial goals.
The Western Union Co. reported it is piloting an addition to its prepaid card platform. The new service, Overnight Home Delivery, allows Western Union's MoneyWise prepaid cardholders to transfer funds electronically to recipients throughout most of the United States.
PARTNERSHIPSFidelity National Information Services Inc. has agreed to offer The Western Union Co.'s global money transfer services to FNIS' more than 8,500 banking institution clients throughout the United States.
India-based ItzCash Card Ltd. and the India movie rental service Seventymm Services Pvt. Ltd. teamed to facilitate the online payment of movie rentals. This service will reportedly allow viewers to register and rent movies in various languages from the comfort of their homes.
Stanton Consultancy Ltd. and Advanced Security Solutions have agreed to integrate their companies' products - UltraPoS and idenTT respectively. The combined offering will reportedly deliver an enhanced foreign exchange management system, designed to decrease fraud risk and provide significant cost savings.
Secure Trust Bank, located in England's West Midlands county, and debt manager Paymex Group teamed to launch the prepaid Evolution account service to help customers budget their finances. The Evolution account combines customers' current accounts with prepaid cards that restricts spending to only what funds are loaded on the cards.
VisitBritain-branded SIM cards, powered by GO-SIMN, will be offered to all U.K. visitors in spring 2009, enabling them to avoid expensive roaming charges when they arrive in the U.K. from overseas. By fitting a GO-SIM International SIM card into mobile phones, users can reportedly save up to 85 percent on call costs.
APPOINTMENTSPrepaid processor TransCard hired a new Vice President of Risk, Arnold Galit, as well as a new Executive Vice President of Global Business Development, Karl Asplund. Galit and Asplund "complete two areas of our organization that we want to enhance in the coming months - security and international opportunities," said Jerry Uffner, President of TransCard.
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