NEWSGift and loyalty card processors ProfitPoint Inc. and SparkBase joined forces to develop best practices and a data security standard for the stored-value industry. The companies said the initial Stored-Value Industry Certification Data Security Standard will have a best practices level, followed by a more detailed certification standard to be released later in 2010.
"Stored-value transactions travel over private networks, and the type of data maintained for cardholders is often more sensitive," said Doug Hardman, Chief Executive Officer at SparkBase. "A standard that goes beyond just the card number needed to be established for our industry."
The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs reported that over 825,000 adult New Yorkers, representing more than 13 percent of households, do not have bank accounts. The national average of unbanked households is 7.7 percent, the DCA said.
The Citywide Financial Services Study, commissioned by the DCA's Office of Financial Empowerment, found that, compared to New York City as a whole, Bronx households were more than twice as likely to be unbanked, with over 50 percent in three neighborhoods lacking access to traditional bank accounts.
Additionally, the study found that residents in the neighborhoods of Jamaica, Queens and the Melrose section of the Bronx combined spent more than $19 million annually on check cashing fees.
ANNOUNCEMENTSMoney transfer specialist MoneyGram International expanded its MoneyGram Global Giving program to include a minimum $250,000 grant to the American Red Cross for continued Haitian relief. Through June 30, 2010, MoneyGram will donate $2 from every transaction sent to Haiti for relief efforts.
"Recovery in Haiti will be ongoing, and remittances to family members will continue to be a critical component," said Alex Holmes, MoneyGram's Senior Vice President and Chairman of the MoneyGram Global Giving program.
Oberthur Technologies S.A., a France-based manufacturer of prepaid cards, now offers drop-on-demand printing to provide additional options for customers who desire single vendors for card design, manufacturing, personalization, fulfillment and inventory management.
London-based Prepaid Financial Services Ltd. rolled out the PFS MasterCard Prepaid Rand Travel Card for U.K. travelers in South Africa. The South African Rand is the currency of South Africa. The card is issued by Transact Network Ltd.
RegaloCard reported the completion of the U.S. test phase of its micro money transfer program. Using mobile phones, RegaloCard users will be able to transfer as little as $10, the Miami-based company said.
"What Gregory Keough [RegaloCard's CEO] and the team at RegaloCard have done is invent a new product category which we call the micro money transfer," said John Jackson, CEO of Telmaxx Inc., one of RegaloCard's initial distributors.
Prepaid telecom provider SelectCore Ltd. expected a March 2010 launch in Canada of its international mobile top-up service on its PrepaidONE platform. Capitalizing on the growing global money transfer market, SelectCore said its mobile top-up platform will allow Canadian immigrants to send money back to friends and family in home countries.
E-commerce platform developer Socialwise Inc. released version 2.0 of its online teen payment solutions site, BillMyParents. BillMyParents has been upgraded to include a MasterCard Worldwide-branded prepaid card payment solution that allows parents to load funds on teens' prepaid cards and monitor and control their children's spending.
Via a live video conference, Total Systems Services Inc. (TSYS) exchanged ideas concerning prepaid card development with Prepaid International Forum members from Brazil and India, "marking the first formal exchange on prepaid best practices, legislation and business models" between the two developing nations, according to the PIF.
TSYS executives heading up their respective operations in Brazil and India noted that the prevalence of prepaid telecommunications in both countries, along with sizable unbanked and underbanked populations, makes for ripe opportunities for prepaid expansion.
PARTNERSHIPSPrepaid Card Holdings Inc. subsidiary Bank Freedom signed an agreement with Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) for the processing of MasterCard-branded Bank Freedom prepaid cards. Bank Freedom will also leverage the FIS platform to support its business expense, general spend reloadable, payroll cards and cobranded prepaid card programs.
ProfitPoint and Aria Systems Inc., an on-demand billing and subscription management solution provider, partnered to combine ProfitPoint's stored-value cards with Aria's billing platform for online game publishers, as well as gamers. The service is set to go live in the second quarter of 2010.
End-to-end wireless transaction technology company Apriva reached an agreement with private-label, stored-value processor SparkBase to offer a secure wireless payment solution for the stored-value card market. The integration of Apriva technology with SparkBase's network allows merchants to process loyalty and gift card transactions over public wireless networks.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational, held March 22 to 28 in Orlando, Fla., and sponsored by MasterCard, made available gift cards manufactured and processed through Springbok Services Inc. The open-loop, MasterCard-branded cards were designed with the Arnold Palmer signature and umbrella. For each card purchased, the tournament donated $1 to the Arnold Palmer Medical Center.
Spa media and marketing company SpaFinder Inc. selected mobile commerce firm Transaction Wireless for B2B virtual gift cards. The partnership allows SpaFinder to sell virtual gift cards in bulk to corporate clients worldwide. In turn, SpaFinder's clients will be able to distribute the virtual cards via e-mail to their customers by utilizing TW's patent pending wGiftCard technology.
U.K.-based prepaid card provider Tuxedo Money Solutions reported that it is improving the efficiencies of its information technology (IT) department and customer support by outsourcing over 50 percent of its IT function to MSM Software. As an extension of Tuxedo, MSM will offer support to corporate customers and call centers, as well as troubleshooting and co-ordination of all other tech suppliers, Tuxedo said.
Vesdia Corp., provider of multichannel merchant networks and incentive services, inked a deal with AMC Entertainment Inc. to offer movie fans rewards for seeing movies. Credit and debit cardholders can receive airline miles, cash back or points to use for AMC box office and concessions purchases and for AMC gift card purchases online.
ACQUISITIONSInComm purchased virtual currency provider Zeevex. Incomm said the acquisition will enable the processor and distributer to leverage the strength of its prepaid game card vertical with Zeevex's virtual currency platform to enable consumers to purchase digital content.
Financial and commercial card production and fulfillment house CPI Card Group acquired certain assets of Premier Card Solutions. PCS specializes in data personalization services and the making of tamper-evident security packaging for prepaid cards.
CPI acquired PCS's Roseville, Minn.-based debit card business. CPI said many of PCS's former employees and management have also joined the CPI team.
APPOINTMENTSMoneyGram hired Juan Agualimpia as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. With nearly 20 years in marketing, brand management, customer relationship management and product development, Agualimpia will oversee MoneyGram's global branding and marketing strategy.
Las Vegas-based processor eCommLink Inc. appointed Max Courington National Sales Director. Courington brings 15 years of sales management and prepaid program management experience to his role of developing eCommLink's domestic sales. His emphasis will be on engaging program managers in retail, payroll and remittance initiatives.
Prepaid card distributor InComm selected Peter Scalera for the position of Vice President of Retail Marketing for the Atlanta-based processor's new retail marketing team. Scalera has 25 years in marketing and sales for Fortune 500 companies and will be responsible for category management, retail promotions, and prepaid merchandising strategy and execution.
PreCash Inc. promoted Steve Taylor to Chief Operating Officer. Taylor assumes responsibility for the company's operational and financial arms. He joined PreCash in 2002 as Director of Finance and subsequently became Executive Vice President of Operations and Chief Financial Officer. In addition to his new role, Taylor will continue to serve as CFO.
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