The B2B Applications of Prepaid: Implications of Mobile Payments

In the video below, Carol Lee Mitchell of Global Prepaid at MasterCard sits down with Marilyn Bochicchio, CEO of Paybefore, earlier this year at Prepaid Expo USA 2012 to discuss Paybefore's mission.

Marilyn speaks about emerging and developed market trends She highlights the B2B applications of prepaid and the implications of mobile payments. She also shares her views about the existing regulatory environment in the US.

As the leading prepaid and emerging payments publishing company, Paybefore sponsors the Paybefore Awards®:

Now in its seventh  year, Paybefore Awards is the oldest and most prestigious awards to recognize excellence in the worldwide prepaid and stored value industry.

Three winners will be selected in approximately 20 categories, including Most Innovative Prepaid Solution and Breakout Prepaid Company of the Year. Best-in-Category and Industry Achievement winners will be announced at the Prepaid Expo USA, March 4-6, 2013, in Orlando, Fla. Applications will be available in mid-September, with nominations due Friday, November 16, 2012.

Editor's Note:  We encourage you to learn more and become involved with Prepaid Expo 2013, bringing together professionals from leading retailers, processors, financial institutions, service providers and marketers in the prepaid marketplace every year. Over 12,000 people have attended Prepaid Expo USA since 2007 to hear industry experts discuss what's next in the growing prepaid marketplace and where it fits in our new economy. Visit www.PrepaidExpoUSA.com to learn more.

* Thank you! Save 10% off the standard rate when you register for Prepaid Expo 2013, use Prepaid Expo Blog Reader VIP Code: XU2648BLOG10.

About the Author

Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and Managing Editor of the Prepaid Expo Blog. She has worked in media positions at Hachette Book Group, Aol, and Thomson Reuters and has an anthropology and brand-building background. She is also published poet and maintains a literary blog. She will be live blogging during Prepaid Expo 2013, taking place March 4-6, 2013, in Orlando, Florida and hopes to meet you there. She may be reached at vrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

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The Prepaid Marketplace in Brazil & Latin America

Yesterday, Anabel Perez, the CEO of NovoPayment wrote Digital Money, Mobile Wallets and Latin America at the Huffington Post.

Earlier this year, Marcio Franklin of MasterCard Brazil sat down with Sergio Marcondes, the CEO of Accentiv' Mimetica at Prepaid Expo USA 2012 to discuss prepaid in the Brazilian market. If you are keeping an eye on emerging markets, you may want to take a look at the video below.

Editor's Note:  We encourage you to learn more and become involved with Prepaid Expo 2013, bringing together professionals from leading retailers, processors, financial institutions, service providers and marketers in the prepaid marketplace every year. Over 12,000 people have attended Prepaid Expo USA since 2007 to hear industry experts discuss what's next in the growing prepaid marketplace and where it fits in our new economy. Visit www.PrepaidExpoUSA.com to learn more.

* Thank you! Save 10% off the standard rate when you register for Prepaid Expo 2013, use Prepaid Expo Blog Reader VIP Code: XU2648BLOG10.

About the Author

Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and Managing Editor of the Prepaid Expo Blog. She has worked in media positions at Hachette Book Group, Aol, and Thomson Reuters and has an anthropology and brand-building background. She is also published poet and maintains a literary blog. She will be live blogging during Prepaid Expo 2013, taking place March 4-6, 2013, in Orlando, Florida and hopes to meet you there. She may be reached at vrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

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Prepaid Expo USA 2010 Wrap-Up

If you haven't yet checked out our live footage we've captured from the Prepaid Expo USA 2010 event in Las Vegas make sure to see it on the Prepaid Expo website. You'll find a Flickr slideshow as well as some YouTube clips we've uploaded. Don't forget to upload some pictures if you attended the conference!

Also, here's a look back at the Live blog posts from the event.

Clinton Praises Prepaid at Expo

Panel Discussion: Card ’09/Regulation E

First Data to resell DimpleDough solution

Panel Discussion: Managing the Media Landscape

State of the Market: Prepaid Around the World

Developing an International EBT Business: Winning Strategies for Multi-Country Prepaid Benefits

The Value of Data Analysis & Segmentation for Prepaid Healthcare Portfolio

Keynote Address: Robert L. Johnson, Chairman, The RLJ Companies

Government Prepaid Programs Case Study: Direct Express Debit MasterCard

State of the Market: Unbanked & Underserved

Market Focus Session - Implementing Prepaid Payroll in the Transportation Industry: Yellow Cab Co-Op

Panel Discussion: State of the Market Open Loop Programs

The Bancorp Bank Teams Up with UniRush to Issue the Prepaid Visa® RushCard

The 2010 Paybefore Awards Ceremony

Panel Discussion: A Vision of Prepaid Presentation

Green Dot Opening Opening and Keynote Address - How ING Direct Succeeded By Being A Rebel With a Cause: Driving Success Through Innovation

Opportunities for Closed Loop Gift Card Growth

Prepaid Expo USA 2010 Kickoff!

Welcome to the Prepaid Expo USA 2010 Conference!

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Secure Your Place to Meet President Bill Clinton at the Prepaid Expo USA

Prepaid Expo USA is excited to announce that a limited number of attendees will have the opportunity to take their photo with President Bill Clinton before his Keynote address on Monday, February 22nd. Secure your place among the 50 attendees that will be chosen from the drawing to meet President Clinton by registering for the Prepaid Expo USA 2010* by December 11th.

http://bit.ly/7pr9KP

President Clinton's keynote address at the Prepaid Expo USA 2010 is entitled "Embracing Our Common Humanity."

Following his time in office, President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence. President Clinton also joined forces with President George H.W. Bush during the aftermath of three natural disasters - the 2004 tsunami in South Asia, where he served as U.N. Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Hurricane Ike in 2008 - to help raise money for recovery efforts.

President Clinton currently serves as the U.N. Envoy for Haiti to assist its people and government as they "build back better" from recent storm damages and implement their economic vision for the future.

All Prepaid Expo USA attendees registered and paid by December 11th will be automatically entered into a drawing for the chance to win a spot at the "Meet & Greet" with President Bill Clinton, Founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation & 42nd President of the United States. Limited spaces are available for this rare opportunity.

Additionally, register by December 11th with code XU2348LinkedIn2 and save $360 off the standard conference rate (10% discount off the prevailing rate).

http://bit.ly/7pr9KP

Don't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to hear President Clinton speak live and attend the prepaid industry's largest and longest running event.

*To be entered into the drawing you must have registered and paid by December 11th, 2009.

Prepaid Expo Homepage

Download the brochure

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Prepaid Credit Cards are being used to move illegal funds to Mexico

According to this article in Aztarnet.com smugglers have been using prepaid cards to export illegal funds to Mexico. Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard mentioned that currently there is no legislation or laws regulating prepaid credit cards, so launderers have done exported funds with incredible ease without violating any laws.

The Attorney General also stated that most of the cards are issued from offshore banks in the Dominican Republic, Panama, and the Cayman Islands. The problem with the cards is that they can be loaded up anonymously and so it can be harder to trace. He plans on creating legislation that would make carrying more than $10,000 across the border of Mexico on prepaid cards illegal. Looks like only time will tell if such a regulation will ever be passed in the near future.

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US Treasury Pushes to Deliver Social Security Benefits Through Prepaid Debit Cards

According to this post on the Chicago Tribune the US Treasury has been campaigning this year to get Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients to switch to a prepaid debit card. Currently, millions of Americans are getting a check from SS at the end of the month.

Every year the US Treasury receives about 1.4 million complaints from SS recipients, and so Direct Express is a safe, convenient way for recipients to get their government money without worrying about fraud. Sending prepaid cards instead of checks also saves the government a lot of money. 500,000 people so far have signed up to receive their government benefits through prepaid debit cards, but when will the rest of Americans join?

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Prepaid cards might not be so bad for college students after all

We recently posted on our blog a POV from the Baltimore Sun that explains that prepaid cards might not be the best option for college students because of hidden fees. Today's post on the Baltimore Sun offers a different perspective on that opinion, mentioning that it unfairly portrayed the functions of a reloadable prepaid card.

In the post, the author specifies that credit cards can potentially carry the risk of debilitating debt for college students, if not used properly, and so prepaid cards are a much better option. ATM Fees and overdraft fees from debit cards are far more costly and expensive than prepaid card fees. Not to mention most of the fees on prepaid cards are dependent on the card holder's usage. What's your take on it?

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VirtualWorks Settles for $52,000 with the FTC

According to this post on creditcards.com, VirtualWorks, A California-based credit card company has settled with the FTC for a sum of $52,000 for tricking customers into buying prepaid cards. Joshua Finer, the owner of VirtualWorks misrepresented his product to consumers by having them apply for a payday loan in which was disguised as "free", but then charged consumers a $54.95 prepaid card enrollment fee.

What are some other examples of deceptive marketing prepaid card schemes like this one that you've come across in through your endeavors?

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Prepaid Cards Might not be best for College Students

This post on the Baltimore Sun mentions that prepaid cards might not be the best option for college students trying to step away from owning credit cards. The reasoning behind this is because some prepaid cards carry "hidden" fees. Eileen Ambrose recently wrote in the Sun that perhaps another alternative would be to tie a debit card to a checking account, and once students can successfully manage that responsibility, to gradually move them into credit cards. Do you agree that prepaid cards are not the best option for college students?

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Great Online Exchange Rates Through Prepaid Cards

This article on Birghingham Post discusses that online exchange rates for 'Brits' might be at an all time best especially if they are thinking about traveling. Brits that are coming to America should take advantage of great rates which can approach $1.80 to the pound by Christmas. FairFx, a prepaid MasterCard that is available in euros and dollars currently has an exchange rate of $1.67 to the pound. Consumers should be able to lock a great rate through prepaid cards when exchange rates are to their favor. We should be seeing a lot more people taking advantage of these rates by the end of the year.

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Netspend Becomes Check City's Exclusive Debit Card Provider

According to latest release on Business Wire NetSpend and Check City has entered into an agreement in which NetSpend will be the chain's exclusive debit card provider. Both companies will also work together in converting customers that were previously served by using Check City's in house prepaid product to the new NetSpend card.

Dan Henry, CEO of Netspend has mentioned that “Our mission at NetSpend is to bring an unmatched set of financial services products to the tens of millions of consumers who are overlooked and underserved by traditional banks. By partnering with Check City—a company whose passion for top-quality customer service and exceptional products is as strong as ours—we are better able to deliver on that mission in the West and Mid-Atlantic regions.”

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Prepaid Cards More than What you Bargained For?

Washington Independent recently published an article that although mentioning that reloadable prepaid cards among the "unbanked" have grown tremendously the past two years according to market research from the Mercator Advisory Group, there are several downsides to using prepaid cards.

The article states that even though prepaid cards don't charge overdraft fees, they still remain expensive to use. Many card issuers can charge up to $10 a month on maintenance fees, not to mention fees for reloading the card and customer service fees. Prepaid cards at times can also incur cancellation fees, depending on the issuer.

So, are prepaid cards expensive in your opinion? What are your thoughts?

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First Bank of Delaware Offers New Credit Lending Product

The Paypers reports that the First Bank of Delaware has made available to its customers the Simply Credit Lending product. This card offers its consumers a credit line which can be accessed through their existing prepaid cards, and it allows them to borrow money for short-term obligations or emergencies.

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Please give us your feedback on the 2009 Prepaid Expo USA

Good afternoon,
We're putting together the 2010 Prepaid Expo USA, and would like your opinions, insights and suggestions. Please take three minutes to fill out this survey, whether you attended the 2009 Expo or not.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=eWKIVgnbCMF_2byuqh4hLWiA_3d_3d

Thanks
Keith Kirkpatrick
Conference Director, Prepaid Expo USA

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Prepaid March LinkedIn Roundup

Here's the February edition of the newsletter we regularly send out to our Prepaid Professionals LinkedIn group members. Remember to join our Prepaid Professionals LinkedIn Group if you haven't so already in order to receive these communications on a monthly basis. Enjoy!

Read the Newsletter

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