NEWSThe Network Branded Prepaid Card Association is concerned about the Federal Reserve Board stripping away an exemption that would have excluded certain types of prepaid cards from the debit card interchange cap regulations imposed by the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.
Originally, the Durbin Amendment excluded prepaid debit and government benefit cards from the requirements, the NBPCA said. But, in its final rule announced on June 29, 2011, the Fed added limitations to the prepaid card exemption whereby prepaid cards that link to accounts that could be accessed via checks, the automated clearing house, wire transfers and other means would not qualify for the exemption, according to the NBPCA.
"The prepaid card industry is worried the limitation added by the Fed on the prepaid exemption could have a devastating impact on millions of underserved consumers who have no other means but a prepaid card to participate in our card-based economy," said Kirsten Trusko, President and Executive Director at the NBPCA.
An Associated Press report said Green Dot Corp. stock rose after the Federal Reserve Board of Governors announced the proposed final debit card cap rule. On news of the ruling, an analyst at Janney Capital Markets upgraded Green Dot's position as a publicly traded company, which prompted a rise in Green Dot's shares.
Program manager Ceridian Stored Value Solutions (SVS) said it was victorious in its patent case against Card Activation Technologies Inc. On July 1, 2011, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware ruled that 33 of the 36 patent infringement claims made by CAT were invalid. On July 7, the remaining three claims were also invalidated by the court.
ANNOUNCEMENTSAt the Tiger Woods hosted AT&T National golf tournament held at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa., telecommunication provider AT&T provided military personnel with free prepaid calling cards. During the tournament, which ran from June 28 to July 3, AT&T contributed 10,000 prepaid calling cards as part of care packages assembled in a tent on tournament grounds.
MoneyGram International reported it has grown the number of agent locations in France from 100 in June 2010 to 1,000 today. The 1,000th location is at a shopping center in Choisy le Roi, south of Paris.
In other company news, MoneyGram's partnership with Al Barid Bank added 1,800 locations in Morocco to MoneyGram's network. MoneyGram now has over 5,000 agent locations in Morocco, plus a new office in Casablanca.
Talbott Roche, President of the Safeway Inc. subsidiary Blackhawk Network, was named Financial Services Executive of the Year for the 2011 American Business Awards held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on June 20. Blackhawk's PayPower prepaid debit card was also recognized as a finalist in the New Product or Service of the Year – Financial Services category.
At the Cardware Conference in Niagara, Canada, YESpay International Ltd. received the ACT Canada Gold International Innovation Award 2011 in the Payment category for its integrated Europay/MasterCard/Visa chip and PIN card payment service called Emboss.
PARTNERSHIPSCorFire, the mobile commerce business of SK C&C USA, signed a pact with InComm to offer the Atlanta-based distributor's network of retailers mobile promotions and marketing capabilities supplied by CorFire.
InteliSpend Prepaid Solutions LLC teamed with employee wellness program provider Virgin HealthMiles Inc. for wellness expertise, program design and program delivery for InteliSpend clients. Both companies are focused on helping lower health care costs for employers and employees.
Payment platform provider Oxigen Services (India) Pvt. Ltd. selected Silicon Valley-based Array Networks Inc. for its APV Series of applications for streamlined and secure payment processing in India. Array Networks' software is expected to solve Oxigen Services' load balancing problems for prepaid applications, such as mass transit, event ticketing and telecommunications.
TransCard LLC, a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based prepaid card processor and program manager, inked an agreement with Shoreline Business Solutions Inc., a Cardiff Holdings Co. business and provider of card personalization and fulfillment services for banks, to offer prepaid card programs to TransCard's over 1,200 financial institution (FI) clients.
ACQUISITIONSHealth care card service provider Evolution Benefits Inc. and health care payment platform operator Lighthouse1 LLC reported the completion of their merger to create Evolution1 for the cloud-based administration of flexible spending, health savings and health reimbursement accounts, as well as wellness and transit plans.
APPOINTMENTSNxSystems, providers of the Pay Any Card for payroll disbursements globally, appointed Ruth Costigan as Compliance Officer. Costigan has over 20 years of prepaid card experience in the banking industry and is certified in Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer compliance regulations.
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