TSYS Wins Several Processing Contracts in China

American Banker reports that TSYS has partnered with China's only credit card network and landed five processing contracts with issuers in China and Malaysia. TSYS mentioned last week that China UnionPay Data Services Co will process credit card transactions for the following companies Yaodu Credit Cooperative, Shandong Provincial City Commercial Banks Alliance, Yunan Rural Credit Union and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank. It will also handle prepaid card payments for KargoCard Sdn Bhd. This is only the beginning of what TSYS hopes to a pathway into the rest of Asia. Where do you see the prepaid industry headed into Asia?

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Current Prepaid Card for teens

According to The Sun's Financial Diary, there is a new prepaid card from Discover that can help parents and teens work together to control their spending. This prepaid debit card allows the parents to set limits on spending, as well as restrict what for and where their children can shop. Read more about this new card here.

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TxVia raises $15.5 Million in Series C Financing

According to this article in SiliconIndia prepaid card processing company TxVia has raised $15.5 million in series C financing which was led by Bain Capital Ventures and other investors.

Anil D. Aggarwal, Chairman and CEO of TxVia mentions, "We continue to enable the prepaid card industry and set new standards of excellence in processing."

TxVia deploys a PaaS approach to prepaid card processing that comes complete with application development, data storage, and other tools. It will be interesting to see how this investment will improve on their technology.

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Prepaid cards lead to better loyalty systems

The Intelligent Enterprise recently wrote an article taking a look at how prepaid cards have replaced loyalty programs and allowed them to become better at tracking their customers as well as better reward them by monitoring the purchasing habits of the card user. It also allows for companies to judge the shopping habits of regions, as they can compare the prepaid card habits of users at one store to others. Read the full article here.

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Prepaid card overcharged

Lydia Alcock, a teen who has been using a prepaid card to manage her money, was hit with a staggering fee of $23,148,855,308,184,500, after buying a train ticket from Grand Central. Alcock along with 12,000 people saw this bank error on their statements last month. Visa was responsible for the overcharge, and has since voided all fees that came with the charge that is 2,000 times what the US government owes. Read the full article here.

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TxVia Raises $15.5M with Bain Capital Ventures

According to a Press Release, TxVia, Inc., a pioneer in prepaid card processing technology, today announced it has raised $15.5 million in Series C financing, led by new investor, Bain Capital Ventures. Also participating were all current institutional investors, including Espírito Santo Ventures, High Peaks Venture Partners and Village Ventures. New York City Investment Fund joined as a new co-investor.

The funding follows important milestones for TxVia, including successful large-scale client deployments of the company’s groundbreaking platform-as-a-service (PaaS) delivery model for prepaid card processing. Today, TxVia has more than five million reloadable and nonreloadable cards on file in both B2B and B2C prepaid applications.

What do you think of the investment by Bain Capital to TxVia? What other companies will this influence within the prepaid card arena?

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Need a taxi?

Taxi On Demand, a new prepaid card, designed specifically to pay for a taxi, will allow customers to connect with a taxi, no matter where they are in the United States. A toll free number on the back of the card will allow the user to be connected with a taxi driver in the vicinity. In addition, the prepaid card will only work on taxi services, and will be declined if used for anything else. Read the full article here.

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$23 Quadrillion Visa Charges Reported in Several Locations

According to this article in NewsTimes.com there are several incidents of a huge charges appearing in Visa prepaid debit cards across the nation. Karen Taylor from Bethel recently found a $23 quadrillion charge on her 17 year old son's prepaid debit card. Josh Muszynksi of New Hampshire found a $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge on his account shortly after purchasing a pack of cigarettes at a gas station. There are other reported incidents in Texas and Tennessee as well. Apparently Visa released a statement last week of discrepancies that were caused by programming errors and impacted less than 13,000 Visa prepaid transactions. These are the sort of errors the prepaid industry must avoid in order to gain the consumer's confidence to spend in this economy.

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Accepting Submissions for Case Study Presentations for the 2010 Prepaid Expo USA

The 2010 Prepaid Expo USA agenda and program are now being developed, and I am accepting proposals for specific case studies highlighting successful prepaid programs. If you’d like to be considered, please send an email with the following information to kkirkpatrick@iirusa.com, by August 4, 2009 for consideration. Please note the following instructions:


I am looking for prepaid case studies from the following market segments:
· Retail and direct sellers (open & closed loop programs)
· Corporate-funded programs (loyalty, reward, rebate, incentive, promotion)
· Commercial applications (payroll, HR, administrative, sales & marketing support, etc.)
· Affinity programs (e.g. prepaid programs marketed toward affinity groups, inc. associations, colleges and universities, religious groups, etc.)
· Government programs (state and federal programs)
· Mobile payment applications (e.g. cell phone payments, airline tix, etc.)


For your proposal, please include the following information:

· Proposed description of your case study
· Your contact details
· Speakers full names, titles and companies (with full contact details; full address, phone, e-mail)
· Target audience for your session
· Specific details on the case study, including:


Ø Background on the customer challenge and needs
Ø Vendor selection process, including details on the criteria used to vet and choose vendors
Ø Details on the program design, including goals and go-to-market strategy
Ø Recap of program launch and operations to date
Ø Discussion on program metrics, including results (is it profitable, does it support other organizational goals?)
Ø Rough details on future direction of the program.

· Four-five benefits or takeaways the audience will leave with after attending the session indicating why attendees will be interested in the session
· Any other comments you’d like me to consider


Submission of an entry does not guarantee a spot on the agenda, nor does it mean the format you suggested will be used. Incomplete entries will not be considered. I will absolutely contact you if I am interested in learning more about your program.


Regards,

Keith Kirkpatrick
Global Prepaid Event Director
+1 (646) 895-7348
kkirkpatrick@iirusa.com

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O2 readies prepaid credit card

Mobile News reports that O2 has partnered with NatWest bank for the launch of O2 Money to provide prepaid credit cards. The first products from O2 Money (a British banking institution) will be two Visa prepaid cards which will be available to O2 customers.Customers will receive balance updates on their mobile and will be able to choose between the Cash Manager card which works as a typical prepaid credit card or the Load & Go card which is available to users as young as 13.

O2 readies prepaid credit card

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Popularity of prepaid cards could lead to fraud

According to the Fair Issacs Corporation, the growing popularity of prepaid cards could lead to more fraud. It could come in the form of counterfeit cards, lost or stolen cards and pins. What are some of the measures that can be taken to avoid prepaid cards from becoming a major source of fraud?

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Fiserv Announces New Card Designs

According to this article in Finextra the financial services solutions provider Fiserv has unveiled 78 exclusive designs ranging from lifestyle themes, money motifs, and regional images for its cards. Many financial institutions will begin to offer these designs as a way of boosting usage and activation. But should prepaid card companies really be focused on the design of cards as opposed to other, maybe more important aspects of the card?

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Visa and Urban Trust Bank partner for prepaid card

According to the Orlando Business Journal, Urban Trust Bank has partnered with Visa to begin offering prepaid cards at the banks branches in both Florida and Maryland. The card will be called the Urban Trust Success Card.

The cards are designed for those who now rely on cash or who face difficulties obtaining traditional bank and credit card accounts.

Source

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Credit Card Companies are Building Pyschological Profiles of Their Customers

This article in the Consumerist explains that credit scores and credit reports might not be the only criteria credit card companies are using to evaluate your risk as a customer. In fact, all purchases and behavior while accessing the credit card will be used by bank personnel to re-evaluate your potential risk.

Will this spawn more users to opt for prepaid cards instead?

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Prepaid Reloadable General Purpose Cards Expected to Reach 160 Billion USD in Latin America by 2015

This article in The Paypers discusses how the prepaid general-purpose reloadable cards are expected to reach about 160 billion USD in Latin America by 2015. These mobile reloadable cards are usually connected to mobile and utility services that allows consumers to pay for electricity bills via SMS texting, the internet, and by other means. What are some companies that are beginning to take advantage of this trend?

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State vs federal laws and prepaid cards

At the Wall Street Journal, they look at the new regulations that are going to allow state laws for prepaid cards the impact the way the cards work nationwide. Consumer groups believe that prepaid card holders shouldn't receive less protection than other cardholders, and there is a possibility that soon state consumer laws could trump federal, in which case state laws are more stringent. So how do we find a balance with state and federal laws that strikes a balance between consumer protection and still encourages financial innovation?

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Prepaid Card Fees are Being Dropped

This article in This is Money highlights that many prepaid cards are becoming cheaper to use, followed by Caxton FX's recent removal of their cash withdrawal fee.

While other companies have not yet removed their cash withdrawal fees, many have lowered the rate. The cheapest prepaid cards after Caxton FX comes from Barclays, FairFX, Lloyds TSB, the Post Office, Ice, Thomas Cook and Travelex. It will be interesting to see how this will progress over the next couple of years.

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Canadian Firm Offering Prepaid Card Aimed at Muslims

David Morrison of Credit Union Times reports that UM Financial Inc., has begun offering a prepaid card aimed at Muslims who wish to have the convenience of a credit card but refrain from paying any interest. Islamic religious law forbids the paying or earning of interest.

Faithful Muslims can use traditional credit cards without violating Islamic law but need to make sure they pay off their balances in a timely manner to avoid any interest charges. Omar Kalair, CEO of UM Financial Group, said he came up with the prepaid card after it became clear that many Muslims inadvertently wind up paying interest charges on traditional cards.

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New prepaid game card for consumers

Payspan, a company that makes prepaid cards for use on the web when buying items for online games, virtual worlds and social networks, has expanded to sell their cards in Brazil and Turkey. The Ultimate Game Card is sold can be used for over 1,000 different games online. Read the full article here.

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Western Union provides cardholders with Visa Gold Card feature

Kara Deniz of eCommerce Journal reports that, Western Union on Thursday revealed its intention to strengthen its global consumer loyalty program, The Western Union® Gold Card, with the convenience of a reloadable Visa® prepaid card. The new service is to be offered from July and targeted 8 million Western Union Gold Card loyalty members in the USA. The Western Union Gold Card Visa® Prepaid Card benefits are Prepaid Benefits and Gold Card Benefits.

Deniz also reports that according to a recent Western Union research, around 25% of American consumers responded they are using cash more often than they have in the past; 88% said an important reason they use cash is to avoid high interest rates and fees charged by credit card companies; and 91% say it is important for them to use cash more often as it help them to avoid building credit card debt.

Will Western Union see a surge in customers with their partnership with Visa?



Western Union provides cardholders with Visa Gold Card feature

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TransCard Launches Pulse Network

This latest release in BusinessWire highlights that TransCard has launched the Pulse network, which will provide more locations for cardholders to use their cards.

The Pulse network extends to more than 289,000 ATMs and 4,500 financial institutions across the United States. TransCard’s President Jerry Uffner mentions:

“Adding a new PIN POS network will increase the scope of card acceptance and cardholder use. We are always working to improve our products, give cardholders more ways to use their cards and, ultimately, provide more cardholder value.”

This launch will make lives easier for its existing cardholders.

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