Impressions of Prepaid Expo USA 2009

We'd like to once again thank all the attendees, sponsors, speakers, partners, and exhibitors that helped make the 2009 Prepaid Expo USA a huge success! Browsing the web I came across several impressions and perspectives of the event from various speaker blogs and news articles. Take a couple of minutes to read them below.

http://www.incentivemag.com/msg/content_display/publications/e3i24543ccff7b407085c0dd7775daf2431
http://www.incentivemag.com/msg/content_display/incentive/e3i71419f4d58d0cd4c43f5d5eace076394
http://www.paymentsnews.com/2009/03/prepaid-execs-see-underbanked-consumers-as-opportunity.html
http://speakingofchange.blogspot.com/2009/03/silo-busting-by-organizational.html
http://www.metaprepaidcardexpo.com/
http://www.philliouselwanes.com/?s=8&p=24&id=6

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Thank You to Everyone For Making the 2009 Prepaid Expo USA a Success!

Each year the team strives very hard to create a great experience for all of the attendees at the conference. We seek out remarkable and timely speakers, intent on bringing you presentations on the issues and challenges the Prepaid industry is dealing with. This year we especially focused on creating a broader community of Prepaid professionals who would not only benefit from the experience at the conference, but be able to continue and share perspectives and ideas throughout the year.

We feel that the 2009 Prepaid Expo has achieved this, and we hope those of you who attended, or followed us here on the blog, through our event site, our LinkedIn group or on twitter, will continue the discussions and idea-sharing that was fundamental to the overall experience of the conference.

Finally, our Conference Director, Keith Kirkpatrick, took a few moments during the closing hours of the conference to share his final thoughts:

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Track Session: Analyzing the Benefits and Challenges of Utilizing a Platform-As-A-Service Model in Prepaid

Speaker:
Anil D. Aggarwal, Chairman and CEO, Txvia

Anil begins the presentation by discussing how companies like eBay, Google, Facebook, and Amazon conduct fundamental business practices. Txvia has utilized these same principles and practices to prepaid card processing.

Anil mentions that there is a 3rd leg to the payments stool.

Prepaid industry has a wide spectrum of products
- Consumers now want more personalized products
- Vertical market applications
- Marketing, sales, and distribution channels
- Different geographic markets

Some of the principles adopted by companies like Facebook and eBay which can also be adopted for prepaid processing:
- The market is not only defined by the masses but now also by market of niches
- Teams and 3rd parties need to collaborate to help manage complexity and co-create value
- Think in terms of being a “platform” and not a “product”

Anil then passes the presentation on to Anne, also from Txvia, where she goes over sample models and sample IDE Development screens from their core offerings.

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Panel Discussion: Identifying Prepaid Opportunities and Challenges in C-Stores and Fuel Retail: A Special Session with CSP Information Group

Moderator:
Kay Segal, Vice President, CSP Information Group

Speakers:
Scott Burslem, Other Income Manager, Travelcenters of America
David Taylor, Category Director, Exxon Mobil Corporation
Mike Triantafellou, President & CEO, Handee Marts, Inc.
Mike Skinner, General Manager, Coinstar E-Payment Services
Frank Squilla, Senior Vice President of Sales, Incomm

Here are a couple of questions and answers from the panel discussion.

Q: What products have you seen do best in retail?
A: We have seen increased adoption of reloadable cards that have been particularly popular with unbanked consumer. Such consumers have used it as a great vehicle for cash back, purchasing groceries, and gas purchases. Consumers are increasingly looking for cards that they can pick up and use anywhere, not just one store. The result is that Visa and MasterCard branded cards have done extremely well.

Q: What are some different product offerings and integration that have been growing in the prepaid industry?
A: Music and online-gaming (Xbox, PS3, Wii) have shown a tremendous spike in the use of prepaid. The result has been a definite move into these industries as they offer the opportunity for an underserved market who regularly purchases incrementally within these environments.

Q: When you test a product, what is the lead time that you traditionally need to setup a skew?
A: Depending on the size of the company it can take anyway from 2 weeks to 2 months time frame.

Q: What are some of the pieces of the puzzle that make success when you bring out products to market?
A: The importance of coordinating technology resources cannot be understated. It has become essential to have the necessary lead time with technology teams to properly prepare every aspect of the launch.

Here is a short clip of the panel discussion:

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Keynote Address: Demonstrating the Business Case for Corporate Citizenship

Speaker:
Alpesh Chokshi, President, Global Prepaid, American Express Company

Here are a few points from his presentation.

Alpesh discusses how now is the perfect time to invest in innovation initiatives with prepaid. As a result Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now more important than ever because of economic conditions. It is an opportunity to demonstrate to customers an offering of safety, security, and control.

Alpesh then discussed various examples from American Express and their use of CSR. He described the “Make Mine A $ Million Business” that has offered small business owners the tools such as marketing, back-office support, and strategies to help grow their business. In time one in four participants were able to bring their business to reach one million dollars in revenue . In another example American Express, as the largest travel agency in the world, has worked with several partners across the world to invest in and help preserve tourist attractions that are often neglected and in disrepair.

Going even further, Alpesh made two major announcements on behalf of American Express
1. That American Express would begin converting their cards to recyclable materials from standard plastic
2. The launch of "Gift Cards 101" – A program to support the entire prepaid industry to help educate consumers on all aspects of using prepaid cards

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Analyzing the Future Opportunities to Spur Profitable Growth in Prepaid

Moderator:
Gary L. Palmer, Chairman-Elect, NBCPA and EVP, Fidelity National Information Services

Speakers:
Brian Triplett, Global Head of Prepaid, Visa
Laura Kelly, Senior VP, Global Prepaid & Debit Product Solutions, MasterCard Worldwide
Steve Streit, Founder & CEO, Green Dot Corporation
Anil Aggarwal, Chairman and CEO, Txvia
Stefan Happ, VP & GM, North American Prepaid Cards, American Express
Todd Brockman, President, Galileo Payments
Grant Rogers, Senior VP, Meta Payment Systems
Farhan Ahmad, General Manager Prepaid & Director of Emerging Payments, Discover Networks

Here are some of the questions and answers from the panel discussion.

Q: How is the financial crisis affecting opportunities in the prepaid industry?
A: The payment business is alive and well even though we are going through an economic downturn. This is a huge time for prepaid to shine because consumers are looking for safety, budgeting, and more control of their use. Mobile has become an increasingly important utility to get people to use their prepaid cards more often.

Q: In what ways do you see growth being fueled in prepaid?
A: MasterCard is working on more reload networks across the globe. From an innovation perspective, MasterCard is working on combining different offerings from issuers to help bring about innovative products. Visa is working with their partnerships to help companies penetrate these new opportunities, to drive preference for branded products, and to help with performance drivers for business. American Express is dedicating their focus on execution making sure that everyone in the chain is working collaboratively to issue the best end product to consumers. Galileo believes that reporting and analytics for clients is a key driver that will be able to fuel prepaid in the future. Galileo also announced that this week they launched Galileo Analytics. This new offering will provide product managers the ability to develop actual business intelligence, not only with reporting on the transactional data but also information on cardholders in order to begin to move into portfolio management. Anil, CEO and Chairman of Txvia, believes that there are still opportunities in processing that has not yet been addressed yet. Some of these niche issues and markets are missed sometimes, but they are very important and we need to focus on profitable deployments.

Here’s some footage from the panel discussion:

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Keynote Address: How Globalization has Re-Shaped the Investment Landscape: An Economic Outlook for 2009

Keynote Address: How Globalization has Re-Shaped the Investment Landscape: An Economic Outlook for 2009
Mark W. Yusko, President & Chief Investment Officer, Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC

Yesterday, the session began with opening remarks from Keith Kirkpatrick, conference director for the Prepaid Expo, followed by additional remarks from Marilyn Bochicchio, President of Paybefore. Mark was introduced by Marilyn followed by warm applause from attendees.

Mark began his keynote presentation by discussing how global stocks are down in some cases as much as 99%, but even aware of this investors continue to choose to keep investing in US markets. He points out that while the economy is down, this is the best opportunity to invest but the issue is where to invest.

He points out that the current crisis has people hoarding cash rather than spending or investing. The result is that last year has been the 2nd worst year for the markets. Mark quotes, Mark Faber who said, “A surplus of cash leads to a shortage of sense.” Which is exactly what happened in Japan’s case during the mid to late '90s.

Mark then begins to relate the changing reality of the world economy that positions BRIC countries such as China, India, Russia and Brazil as ascendant, quickly expanding market economies. China in particular will outpace even the US over the next 20 years.

He points out that our economy has become increasingly like a 'banana republic, “writing checks that our body can’t cash.” With this flux in the global economy he clearly makes the case that now more than ever, is the best opportunity to invest markets outside of the US, particularly emerging, developing nations.

Here’s a clip from Mark W. Yusko’s keynote speech:

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Raffle Winners

We like to thank all of our exhibitors and sponsors who helped us to make the 2009 Prepaid Expo USA a remarkable success. Many of them held contests and raffles this year. Here are a list of the winners:

NBPCA - Prize: Netbook Computer - Winner: Leana Hersch from Oberthur

Papier Studio - Prize: $100 Visa Card - Winner: Helen Child

First Bank of Delaware - Prize: TV - Winner: Ashvin Lad from Discover
- Prize: Nintendo Wii - Winner: Carol VanCleef from Patton Buggs

Oberthur - Prize: $50 Gift Card - Winner: Juan Gerardo Pina Prieto from Sivale
- Prize: $50 Gift Card - Winner: Eddie Sawyers from SCL
- Prize: $50 Gift Card - Winner: Judy Karlin Rubin from Discover

Metavante - Prize: Callaway Putter - Winner: Dave Willmott from Cash Pass Network

Vehicle Admin Services - Prize: iPod Touch - Winner: Christina Schleifer from The Capital Corporation

FIS - Prize: Nintendo Wii - Winner: Alina Gonzalez from Belize Bank

Prepaid Resources - Prize: 2.5g of Gold - Winner: Philip Cormier from ACE C/C

MasterCard - Prize: Choice of Flip Mino HD Video Camera or iPod Touch
Winners: Bill San Giacomo from Instant Tax Service
Jenny Bustos from Springbok
Steve Turzol from Bancorp

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Track Presentation: Assessing the Public Sector Opportunities for Prepaid

Speakers:

Jason Tiede, Director of Public Sector Prepaid, Citi Prepaid Services
Hemant Baijal, Vice President, Public Sector Prepaid, MasterCard Worldwide

This track presentation began with Hemant discussing the reasons why prepaid has grown citing that the industry has provided the right solutions to key stakeholders. For government agencies, prepaid has created efficiencies, lowered direct costs, minimized fraud, and simplified payment of benefits. For cardholders, prepaid has given them convenient and quick access to their funds, it is less costly than cashing checks, it provides more control over the use of their funds, and it improves financial access for the under-banked.

Hemant mentioned that prepaid is helping the public sector by

• Providing solutions that are relevant globally
• Displacing costly methods of benefits disbursements
• Delivering innovative, electronic payments solutions
• Improving access to mainstream financial products

Jason Tiede of Citi Prepaid Services stated that the 5 keys to success for prepaid are

1. Identify a niche
2. Pursue market driven solutions
3. Ensure quality infrastructure
4. Understand the culture
5. Be quick to market position as market leader

Here's a small portion of the presentation:

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Track Presentation: Incorporating New Features and Functionality onto Prepaid Platforms

Moderator:

Tim Sloane, Director, Debit Advisory Service, Mercator Advisory Group

Panelists:

Scott Johnson, VP of Account Management, Galileo Processing

Scott, Galit, Executive VP, Meta Payment

Tim Coltrell, CEO, Account Now

Chris Britt, Chief Product Officer, Green Dot Corporation

Tim Sloane began with a brief introduction of each of the panelists and their general perspectives on the topic. He then opened up the discussion to questions to the panelists:

Q: What are some key issues to address when launching new functionality in card programs?

A: Products must first address consumer needs. A company must invest heavily in research, surveys and other forms of market research are vital in understanding what the consumer truly wants. Another thing is to make sure that there is great value to the consumer. There should also be a reward system set up in which customers are rewarded for consistently using the product.

Q: How do you determine the costs of different features of customer service while rolling out new features?

A: It’s important to balance speed and functionality. Ultimately, you must really understand the value proposition.

Q: When introducing a modest change, is there a standard process being followed to make sure that all the ends are tied together?

A: Need strong project management discipline to carefully deliver and roll out all related processes that come along with new features.

Q: There is an argument out there that many prepaid platforms have become a “me too” industry, are there true opportunities for innovation in the industry?

A: Financial services in general are easy to copy products from other people but it really comes down to execution. It is a continuous process to improve the product and add new functionality to it. It takes a level of technical experience to implement this.

Q: Another complexity is managing the inventory of cards, do you find that a challenge?

A: Make sure you have a great processing partner to ensure that your customers are receiving mailings of their cards.

Q: What is the best new feature that will be launched in the UK within the next 12 months?

A: A new feature to look out for in the upcoming months is SMS texts and alerts stating balances for consumers.

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Keynote Address: Tearing Down Silos to Drive Success in Prepaid

Speaker:

Carol Kinsey Gorman, Ph.D., Author, Coach and Consultant, Kinsey Consulting Services

Carol began her keynote address with a story about her husband and the collaboration she encountered from the hospital team when he was at the hospital for a couple of weeks. Just like her example, she mentions that the secret to a successful business is a highly collaborative culture. No matter the industry, eliminating silos in the business model is crucial to the successful growth of an organization. Silos have been around since the early 1920’s, and so it has been branded into the minds of executives for a very long time.

Carol gave an example of how IT departments generally have a tough time communicating what they do to executives. Most successful organizations bring the business managers of different divisions and business units and given them an opportunity to understand the IT team's capabilities and offerings in order to communicate it back to their respective business units. By bringing in these managers, companies now have opened up communication between their business units and IT team.

Carol then highlighted the detriment of hoarding knowledge within organizations. The “hoarding instinct” comes into play now especially because of our economic situation. People want to store information and knowledge within themselves and not share it across different business teams. She highlights that very successful organizations often actively pursue spreading such knowledge across the organization and improve understanding and communication. Businesses must be open to change because it is what will keep then competitive during these tough times.

Silos not only cause duplication of efforts, lack of innovation, and lack of communication, but it directly results in the loss of efficiencies and dollars tied to the bottom line. Here's a brief excerpt from Carol's presentation:

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Keynote Address: Capitalizing on Growth Opportunities in Prepaid

Speaker:

Elizabeth Buse, Global Head of Product, VISA, Inc.

Elizabeth Buse started her keynote address after some opening remarks from the conference chairperson, Marilyn Bochicchio. She went right into personal consumption expenditures and how much of it is related to prepaid opportunities. There isn’t a consistent report to assess how much of it is prepaid opportunity, but VISA has taken a bottom-up approach into trying to understand the prepaid opportunity.

Merchants ,financial institutions, government more now than ever, want to jump into prepaid opportunities and manage risks. This means that the market needs choice control efficiency. The industry has to enable certain control options for consumers. Streamlining costs becomes increasingly important as retailers want to attract new customers but don’t want their spend to increase dramatically.

This trend continues not only domestically but across the globe in countries like Brazil, Philippines, South Africa, India, where opportunities for the prepaid industry for the under banked is immense.

In an economic downturn, companies must invest heavily in innovation now. Innovation in the prepaid market is vital to its survival. Elizabeth mentions that Visa’s press release today of their adoption of MoneyGram Link is an excellent example of innovation that prepaid companies should be mimicking. Being able to deliver consistently and keeping our promise to our consumers should be the driving factor for innovation within prepaid.

Take a look at some video footage we captured from Elizabeth's keynote address below:

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The 2009 Paybefore Awards Ceremony

Marilyn Bochicchio, CEO of Paybefore, starts off the 2009 Paybefore Awards Ceremony by thanking the judges that have reviewed all nominations.

Here are the categories for the awards ceremony and the best in category award winners.

· Best Consumer-Funded Prepaid Card – Walmart MoneyCard

· Best Business/ Corporate- Funded Card – TeacherDollars and U.S Express Dual Purpose Corporate Card

· Best B2C Corporate-Funded Prepaid Card - Verizon Wireless Rebate Program

· Best Government Funded Prepaid Card of Program - g2g Youth Opportunity Card

· Best Third-Part Card Retailer – Variable Load Program

· Most Innovative Prepaid Product, Service or Card - ItzCash Octroi Automation

· Best Non-US Based Prepaid Card or Program - paysafecard

· Best Prepaid Marketing or Awareness-Building Program - NBPCA

· Best Prepaid Materials Design – Anne Geddes Card Designs

Now the winner for the highest recognition in the industry

Industry Achievement

Matt Gillin, CEO & Founder – Citi Prepaid Services

Steve Streit, CEO & Founder – Green Dot Corporation

Brad Hanson, President – Meta Payment Systems

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Track Presentation: Gift Card Retailer Alliance – Breaking New Ground to Advance the Closed-Loop Gift Card Industry

During Tuesday morning's track sessions, we sat in the Gift Card Retailer Alliance – Breaking New Ground to Advance the Closed-Loop Gift Card Industry

Speakers:

Carman Wenkoff, President, Value Pay Services LLC (Subway Card Programs)

Tom Boucher, Senior Program Manager, Gift Cards, Best Buy

Attendees welcomed Carman from Value Pay Services when introduced. Carman begins with an overview of the association’s goals and initiatives. Here is the code of principles for the association.

- Adoption of more consumer friendly policies, programs, and best practices

- No expiration or dormancy fees

- Collaborate together to address external issues

- Working respectfully with other members of the association

Carman then passed the presentation over to Tom from Best Buy where he further discussed some of the information and benefits of the association. Some of the benefits include access to reports shared within the association, listing on the RGCA website, access to special vendor rates and programs, and opportunities to participate in all projects organized by the RGCA. In order to request membership to the association each applicant must review the code of principles and then apply at the RGCA website.

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MoneyGram and Visa Inc. Expand Access to Prepaid Services for Consumers Nationwide

Deal extends Visa’s prepaid reload network to 40,000 MoneyGram locations, bringing greater convenience to financially underserved consumers

MINNEAPOLIS and SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2009) — MoneyGram International (NYSE: MGI), a leading provider of global payment services, and Visa Inc., (NYSE: V) today announced plans to introduce Visa ReadyLink – Visa’s prepaid load network – in MoneyGram’s 40,000 agent locations across the United States, providing financially underserved consumers with more convenient options to add funds to their Visa reloadable prepaid cards.

By becoming a Visa ReadyLink participant, MoneyGram enables consumers with any Visa ReadyLink-enabled prepaid card to add funds – in real-time – anywhere MoneyGram Money Transfer and ExpressPayment are offered. MoneyGram joins more than 8,000 participating Visa ReadyLink locations, further extending the convenience and security of reload services to Visa prepaid cardholders in more convenient, everyday shopping locations.

According to Visa estimates, more than 80 million consumers in the United States are “financially underserved”, without access to a banking relationship or access to a payment card. These consumers receive approximately $1 trillion in annual income, pay more than $1 billion in check cashing fees a year, and rely heavily on cash for everyday transactions.

“By making Visa ReadyLink available in MoneyGram’s locations, we’re able to offer greater access and convenience to Visa prepaid cardholders seeking a better alternative to a cash-and-carry lifestyle,” said Elizabeth Buse, global head of products, Visa Inc. “Prepaid is a key priority for Visa and a vital part of our long-term growth strategy. That's why we continue to invest in building upon what we believe is the industry's most flexible and robust prepaid product suite and infrastructure.”

“Our relationship with Visa strengthens our ability to provide consumers with even more convenient options to manage their finances, which is especially critical in the current economic environment,” said Greg Waltz, vice president and general manager of payment products at MoneyGram. "MoneyGram is proud to participate in Visa ReadyLink, and we look forward to providing Visa ReadyLink cardholders with more convenient locations to add funds to their cards."

About Visa Inc.
Visa Inc. operates the world's largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world, and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.


About MoneyGram
MoneyGram International offers more choices, more control and more power for people separated by distance or with limited bank relationships to meet their financial needs. A leading global payment services company, MoneyGram International helps consumers to pay bills quickly and safely send money around the world in as little as 10 minutes. Its global network is comprised of 176,000 agent locations in 190 countries and territories. MoneyGram’s convenient and reliable network includes retailers, international post offices and financial institutions. Now, MoneyGram offers its most loyal customers MoneyGram Rewards for cash discounts on eligible money transfers from the U.S. – visit www.mymoneygram.com to register today. To learn more about money transfer or bill payment at an agent location or online, please visit www.moneygram.com.

Media Contacts:

Lynda Michielutti
MoneyGram International
952-591-3846
lmichielutti@moneygram.com

Jennifer Doidge
Visa Inc.
415-932-2350
jdoidge@visa.com

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Network Branded Prepaid Card Association Releases Educational White Paper on the Application of State Abandoned Property Laws to Prepaid Cards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jennifer Tramontana
Director of Communications
303-929-9636
jennifer@nbpca.com

March 9, 2009 (Montvale, NJ) – The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association
(NBPCA), a non-profit trade organization that works to enhance the environment for
the success of network branded prepaid cards, today released a White Paper entitled
Abandoned Property Laws and Network Branded Prepaid Cards: Questions and
Concerns Raised When Trying to Fit Cards into the Existing Abandoned Property
Legal Framework.

Prepaid cards are innovative and beneficial products that have undergone significant
growth in recent years. While the legal framework for these products has also
undergone change and development, state abandoned property laws have not kept
up.

“The majority of prepaid cardholders use all the funds on their cards shortly after
obtaining the card,” said Judith Rinearson, NBPCA Government Relations Working
Group Chair and White Paper lead author. “Nevertheless, there are unused funds
remaining on some cards, and many states’ abandoned property laws are unclear or
inconsistent in how they apply to today’s prepaid card products. This White Paper
provides an educational roadmap for prepaid card businesses to help them
understand their legal responsibilities, but especially the challenges in attempting to
apply abandoned property laws - most of which did not anticipate prepaid card
products or, at least, the variety of products now available-in today’s environment.
We hope it will encourage a dialogue about the consequences for consumers and
businesses related to the legal uncertainly of today’s abandoned property laws.”
“This White Paper represents collaboration broadly spanning the prepaid card
industry. The NBPCA exists to help improve the overall business environment for
network branded prepaid cards and that means a collective effort to help members
succeed in their individual pursuits,“ said Anil D. Aggarwal, NBPCA Founder and
Chairman of the Board.

NBPCA Abandoned Property Laws White Paper Summary

This White Paper recounts the history of state abandoned property laws and
discusses how today’s laws may impact gift cards and other prepaid card products. It
then explains why the current laws do not adequately address the prepaid card
market and explores the various difficulties that card issuers face in complying with
such laws. Finally, the White Paper describes how the legal uncertainty creates
compliance risks as well as potential negative consequences for consumers and
businesses.

This White Paper outlines the following points:

• The background and history of abandoned property law

• Current state of escheat law

• Challenges applying abandoned property laws to prepaid cards:

• Current laws do not contemplate prepaid cards

• Current laws do not distinguish between network branded prepaid cash accessible cards, network branded cards usable for goods/services, and closed loop, retailer issued cards

• Difficulty in deciding which state and how much to pay

• Difficulty in knowing when property is truly abandoned

• Anticompetitive consequences of abandoned property laws

• Special issues raised by reward and incentive cards

• Problems raised by the Third Priority Rule and “deemed address” provisions

• Penalties and risks of non-compliance

The entire paper can be found on the NBPCA website at www.nbpca.com

About the NBPCA
The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA) is a nonprofit, inter-industry trade association that supports the growth and success of network branded prepaid cards and represents the common interests of the many players in this new and rapidly growing payment category. The NBPCA’s members include financial institutions, card organizations, processors, program managers, marketing and incentive companies, card distributors and law firms. The NBPCA’s Working Groups drive the activities of the Association for its more than 35 members. For additional information, visit www.NBPCA.com.

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Keynote Speech: Putting Service Above Self to Create Magic in the Lives of Millions

Yesterday Hall of Fame Shortstop and Humanitarian Award Winner Ozzie Smith’s provided the opening keynote speech at the Prepaid Expo. Attendees arrived with anticipation for his presentation. Keith Kirkpatrick, the conference director for the Prepaid Expo delivered the introductory reception to the keynote presentation.

Ozzie Smith entered to thunderous applause as many take to their feet to welcome a living baseball legend. He began by telling us a bit about the emotinal impact and power of being nominated and inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He pointed out the difficulty of being able to express the sheer force of being told of his nomination, and went on to describe the remarkable journey he undertook over 20 years to achieve such an achievement. He described his childhood experiences, of how unlike many kids who had people to play catch with, he had no one, but despite this challenge it didn’t stop his dream of becoming a Major League baseball player. Ozzie also recalled and credits his success to those who helped motivate and pushed him throughout his career; including his mother, his highschool coach, his college coach, and so many others.

Courage in times of adversity, as he pointed out, is what keeps people getting back up when they are knocked down, to keep pushing forward when all else seems impossible. He gives through a litanty of examples of renowned individuals who during the early career were often told no including Jim Hensen, the creator of the Muppets, who pitched his idea for the show to network producers and executives for 20 years before given the opportunity. Ozzie humbly mentioned that he did not have the best athletic ability but had the courage to persevere and the heart to believe his “glove” allowed him the chance to give back to the supporters and fans who were always with him.

After a great presentation Ozzie took many questions from the attendees. Questions ranged from what is your greatest achievement to a variety of baseball questions such as his thoughts on the Chicago Cub's chances of winning this year.

Here are just a few minutes of that remarkable opening keynote:

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CoreCard Software Managing Director, J. Leland Strange, to Moderate Prepaid Card Expo 2009 Panel:

Cost Cutting Via Prepaid Cards Panel Discussion to Include Executives from MasterCard Worldwide, First Data and Skylight Financial

Orlando, FL - March 3, 2009-- CoreCard Software (http://www.corecard.com), a leading provider of prepaid and credit card processing licensed software, announced that Managing Director, J. Leland Strange, will act as moderator for the “Cost Cutting via Prepaid Cards” panel at the Prepaid Card Expo 2009 in Orlando, FL. The panel will be held on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 11:35 am.

Strange intends on engaging “Cost Cutting via Prepaid Cards” panelists in discussions on how prepaid cards play a role in the unbanked population of America, trends in electronic payroll administration, paperless payroll offerings and available options, benefits to companies offering prepaid cards and key metrics from case studies. Panelist will include Elisa Corridore, Vice President of Global Product Development, MasterCard Worldwide (http://www.mastercard.com/) ; Kevin Lee, CEO, Skylight Financial (http://www.skylight.net/) ; and Rich Jackman, Senior Vice President, First Data (http://www.blogger.com/www.FirstData.com).

“In today’s economy, employers are increasingly seeking to reduce expenses,” said Strange. “Prepaid processors and program managers have seen great benefits from paperless pay and reduction in administrative cost and I look forward to discussing trends and advantages with the panel.”


About CoreCard Software, Inc.

CoreCard (http://www.corecard.com/) licenses transaction processing and account management software and is a custom processor. Combining unparalleled industry experience with end-to-end software capabilities across the payment industry, CoreCard's products provide next-generation software solutions from merchant acquiring (CoreACQUIRE™), card issuance and account management (CoreISSUE™), disputes management (CoreDISPUTE™) and collections management (CoreCOLLECT™). Corecard's solutions provide easy to use parameter-driven controls, real-time transaction processing, built-in fault-tolerance, and a fully scalable architecture. CoreCard's software provides the market's most feature-rich platform for processing and managing prepaid/stored-value cards, fleet cards, credit cards, debit cards, commercial cards, and private-label cards. Headquartered in Norcross, GA, CoreCard is a subsidiary of Intelligent Systems Corporation [NYSE Alternext US: INS]. For more information, call 770-564-8000 or visit http://www.corecard.com/.

About Prepaid Card Expo 2009

Founded in 2006, the Prepaid Card Expo has quickly established itself as the world’s largest gathering of prepaid, stored value and emerging payments professionals. Prepaid Card Expo offers unparalleled opportunities to learn, buy and sell and interact with over 2,500 of industry professionals and counterparts across a variety of vertical market segments. The 2009 Prepaid Card Expo will be held in Orlando, FL from March 9 to March 11.

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Oberthur Technologies Introduces the Gift Card Industry’s Most Tamper-Resistant Packaging at Prepaid Card Expo

CHANTILLY, Virginia -- Oberthur Technologies, one of the largest providers of manufacturing, personalization services and retail-based packaging for network branded prepaid cards, will introduce Smart Seal; new, secure packaging that will deter packaging fraud, at this year’s Prepaid Card Expo, March 9-11 in Orlando, FL. (Booth number 523.)

Oberthur, with a long history in payment cards and fulfillment, has developed Smart Seal as part of its new Smart Line of gift card packaging. Smart Seal’s patent-pending, heat and pressure process creates a seamless, tamper-resistant barrier around the gift card package. With Smart Seal, the only way to access the gift card is to tear or cut the package― making it easily detected that the product had been tampered.

A recent Packaged Facts report stated that nearly 3 billion dollars was put onto network branded gifts cards in 2007- growing the market by 121% over 2006. “We’ve leveraged our innovation in packaging to protect issuers, retailers and prepaid card users in this rapidly growing market,” says Martin Ferenczi, Oberthur Technologies’ CEO for the Americas region.

According to a Business Week article, investigation or refunding the stolen gift cards is not as costly as the “consumers’ perception of the risk,” of the card tampering.

“Our goal is to understand each link in the chain of how our products are used so we can further enhance our value to clients,” says Ferenczi, adding, “with Smart Seal consumers can confidently purchase a packaged gift card.”

Smart Seal joins other innovative Oberthur Technologies’ gift packaging products- including Smart Pouch and Smart Fold. To see Smart Seal, as well as other Oberthur innovations, visit booth #523.


About Oberthur Technologies
With sales of EUR 733.4 million in 2007, Oberthur Technologies is one of the world leaders in the field of secure technologies. Innovation and high quality services ensure Oberthur’s strong positioning in its main target markets:

• Smart cards: One of the world’s leading providers of security and identification based on smart card technology and associated services, such as personalization, for the mobile, payment, identity, digital TV and transport markets.


• Secure printing: The world’s third largest private security printer, specializing in the production and management of high security products such as banknotes, passports, and other identity documents, checks and secured documents in more than fifty countries.


• Cash protection: World leader in the emerging market of equipments for smart cash transportation and ATM protection.
  

Close to its customers, Oberthur benefits from an industrial and commercial presence across all five continents.

More information about Oberthur is available at http://www.oberthur.com/.

U.S. Press Contact:

Leana Benson Hersch
310 868 1318
l.hersch@oberthur.com


Tracy Williams
310 479 7055
Tracy@olmsteadwilliams.com

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Understanding the Mobile Payments Opportunity

Speakers:

Jenny Gehr, Vice President Payment Solutions Group, Metavante Corporation
Lisa Stanton, CEO, Montise America

Here are some of the key takeaways from the presentation.

Mobile solutions for the youth market are a great way to attract new services. Teens and youth change their phones at times 2-3 times a year, and most own smartphones like the iPod or the Blackberry. Smartphones together with prepaid cards can give consumers:

- Constant Alerts on balances
- Helps prevent fraud
- Improves customer service
- Initiates self-service

Younger generations are diverse in terms of cashing checks, a challenge in prepaid is getting them into a more traditional role. Customer acquisition is extremely expensive. You don’t have to wait for consumers to call the call center, you can start using SMS alerts to offer value propositions. Offering coupons is a great way to get customers to make repetitive transactions.

There was also time for a couple of questions in the Q&A session, so here's one that stood out from th rest.

How do you know if you consumers have to pay for the message they are receiving?

Have a disclaimer that says, “We do not charge for SMS texts but your carrier and rate plans might charge for SMS”

Finally here is an interview with Jenny Gehr as she discusses some highlights from the panel discussion as well as a portion of the panel discussion:

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