Happy Holidays from the Prepaid Card Expo!

We're going to be taking a much needed break from the world of prepaid cards to celebrate the holidays with our family and friends. A huge "Thank You" to you, our loyal readers for your insight, news and communication about our shared prepaid experience. We look forward to 2009 and all of its glorious opportunity!

Thanks again and have a very joyous holiday season.

Best of Prepaid Card Expo 2008

As 2008 draws to a close, let's look back at the top five posts from this year:

Open-Loop Prepaid In Retail: Expanding Consumer Payment Options

edo Interactive introduces Facecard

Paypal Releases Prepaid Debit Card

NETELLER Launches Net+™ Virtual Prepaid Card by MasterCard

Good News for the Prepaid Industry

The Range gets a prepaid card

At The Range, a retail chain in the UK, a new prepaid MasterCard is available. They are the first retailers in the UK to launch a prepaid MasterCard.

Chris Dawson, the CEO, believes it is a great time to enter into this part of the finance sector.
"People would think that I am mad to be moving into the finance sector at present, but the opportunities could not be greater. People are looking to better manage their money and a Range Card provides you with the ability to do just that."

Bank in Australia giving away prepaid cards for Christmas

St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank of Australia has a new prepaid MasterCard that it'll be giving away to clients for the Christmas season.

Marketing Officer Sheridan Hendrickson had this to say about the new prepaid card promotion
“We have a suite of card services available but this gift card is yet another option for everyone to enjoy banking at National. It is very ideal for the Christmas Season and may be used by persons who may not be able to hold a card under different circumstances. It is nothing like what has been given before; it is more flexible and can be used anywhere."

Read more here.

The Future of Cards in Romania

At Wall Street of Romania, they look at the growing market that involves prepaid, debit and credit cards. While prepaid cards are not yet popular in this country, they will soon be a viable option for Romanians looking for an option with a payment card. They've only recently begun to utilize debit cards. For an in depth look at the payment card market in Romania, read here.

Why people use prepaid cards

In a recent survey at PreCash, detailed here at StopChex.com, they reveal the top five reasons people use prepaid cards. With over 75 million Americans using prepaid cards, the results as to why these cards are used:

1. To pay bills
2. They wanted a Visa card
3. They wanted direct deposit
4. To avoid carrying cash
5. To shop online

Entertainment and Dining Prepaid cards most popular for work rewards

In a recent article at Manage Smarter, they look at how businesses are rewarding their employees by giving them gift cards, and most popular are dining gift cards. Entertainment gift cards came in fourth. They're a popular gift solution because it isn't something the employee would normally buy for themselves and they're able to include their family in the reward.

Some prepaid card companies have seen the demand for dinner and a movie or coffee and download cards increase.

Prepaid solutions companies like First Data can even arrange to combine the dining and entertainment on the same card. First Data's Landsverk has seen not only seen dinner-and-a-movie cards being embraced, but also coffee-and-a-download cards more recently.

Coffee Republic starts prepaid card and loyalty program

Coffee Republic, a coffee chain based in the UK, has teamed with sQuid eMoney Service to start a prepaid card and loyalty program for its stores. They intend for the prepaid cards to replace cash purchases in the fast-food market. The service is arleady available in London, but will expand to other stores early next year.

Peter Breach, Coffee Republic chairman, had this to say about the new program:
“The sQuid eMoney service gives us the ability to reward our customers at the same time as making their life easier at the point of purchase. We wanted to move on from the loyalty-only card; we needed contactless, and an ability to extend an online relationship with our customers meant that sQuid was the obvious partner.”

Read more here.

Prepaid cards provide rewards for customers

Print Pelican is offering prepaid Visa gift cards to their customer who spend over $250 with them before December 14. For more information, click here.

New ruling by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp opens new questions

The American Banker has commentary on the new ruling that affects the funds in open-loop prepaid card accounts.

John L. Douglas, a partner in the Atlanta law firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP had this to say about the new ruling:

"It is one thing to say there is a deposit and there is insurance. That in and of itself is not all that big of a deal. The other issue that banks and program managers need to start worrying about really is: If you are going to create an insured-deposit relationship with a customer, what other regulatory requirements do you need to be worrying about as well? I don't know the answer."

Read more here.

MiCash's new reloadable debit card

MiCash has a new reloadable debit card that allows card holders to use the card in electronic purchases, pay bills, ATM cash withdraws, and transfer money internationally. It also allows them to transfer money card to card or card to cash worldwide for a flat fee.

Daniel Levinas, the President and CEO of MiCash, Inc. had this to say about the card:
"We utilize world class technology to provide fair-priced, value-added financial services, like our international money transfer service. This unique money remittance service provides immigrants with an affordable, safe and convenient way to send money to family in another country."

Read more here.

Popularity of prepaid cards growing in Australia

There's a great article at the Sydney Morning Herald that discusses the growing popularity of open-loop prepaid cards is Australia. The Heritage Building Society has issued 500,000 cards sin 2006.

Read the article here.

New German system allows for instant credit cards

First Data with PLUS Finanz Service has started a new program where customers can apply and instantly receive a credit card. This new program, which is available in Germany, has four participating electronic retailers who can use self-service terminals to enter their application data, their credit is assessed immediately and a credit limit is assigned to each card. Cards are then embossed and presented to consumers on site. There are plans to extend this program to 80 hypermarket locations who will also have the opportunity to co-brand the card. Read more here.

iPhone App can personalize giftcards

At All Pay News, they reveal a new iPhone/iTouch app that allows users to select, personalize and purchase gift cards without leaving the application.

Gary Krow, Chief Executive Officer of GiftCertificates.com had this to say about the new App:
"GiftCertificates.com is all about the freedom of choice, and delivering superior value and service to our customers, especially during the holiday season. By making it easier for our customers to access the GiftCertificates.com marketplace, the GiftCards application enhances our customers' online shopping experience and positions us to better serve them in the mobile future."

Neovia acquires new prepaid payment services unit

IDT Corp sold its prepaid payment services unit to Neovia for $15.05 million in cash. They did this in an effort to get rid of departments that weren't making money and to better streamline their business. Read more here.

The State of the Prepaid Market in Europe

The team at Prepaid Expo Europe has recently put together the free webinar The State of the Prepaid Market in Europe which will take place on Thursday, January 8th from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST. John Goodale, Director of Card Management Solutions, TSYS Global Services, will be presenting on the state of the prepaid market in Euorpe. Here’s a brief description of the webinar:

The industry press is reporting the expansion of the prepaid market across several diverse and emerging industry sectors and Europe is being heralded as the next big market in terms of prepaid.But is it? What are Europeans really thinking as they watch the route taken by prepaid cards globally...from the gift market to everyday usage.

John Goodale of TSYS will discuss the state of the current prepaid market in Europe and offer his insights into its development and future. He will discuss which countries are in the lead in terms of readiness and which countries lag as well as the applications of closed loop versus open loop prepaid and where the logical fits will be in the key European markets.

Be sure to look for more news and web seminars from Prepaid Expo Europe in Vienna, Austria 29 June - 1 July 2009.

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/619356298