In an economic environment where many workers are feeling the pinch of the rising cost of living, Nursefinders Inc., one of the nation’s largest healthcare staffing providers, has announced that it is offering daily salary payments to temporary employees who have registered at no cost for a Chase Payroll Card. Upon completion of a daily work shift, an employee’s payroll card account is credited with salary payment as quickly as two hours after an approved time card is submitted.   » Continue Reading

Transcard, a provider of prepaid debit card solutions branded with Discover Network, MasterCard and STAR associations, has announced 'the introduction of Transcard Mobile, one of the industry’s first applications built specifically for payroll card members. This new platform enables Transcard payroll card members, a majority of which have text-enabled cell phones, to access full account activity and functions via their cell phones.'   » Continue Reading

JPMorgan and its customer Kelly Services received the Best Payroll Card Program Award last week at the second annual Prepaid Card Expo in Las Vegas. Kelly Services has been offering the Chase Payroll Card program to its temporary employees since 2004. Kelly deployed the payroll card as a means to provide its temporary employees with a safe, convenient, and dependable alternative to payroll checks, as well as reduce the costs and time associated with issuing paper payroll checks.   » Continue Reading

Transcard has announced a strategic alliance with Choice Hotels International, a lodging franchisors with ten hotel brands operating in the United States and 37 countries and territories, to provide prepaid stored-value card solutions to hotel franchisees and their employee base. According to the company, "the cards enable Choice Hotels franchise owners to pay their employees electronically, and in turn potentially improve employee retention."   » Continue Reading

Discover Financial Services has announced an agreement with First Data Corp. to issue Discover Network payroll cards provided by Money Network Financial, a First Data Company. Money Network will issue the Discover Network branded payroll cards and handle card administration.   » Continue Reading

Coinstar and First Data Corp. have announced an agreement between Money Network Financial LLC, a First Data company, and Coinstar E-Payment Services Inc., a Coinstar company, to offer the Money Network Pay Card through select Coinstar kiosks.   » Continue Reading

Visa USA has announced a five-year agreement with ADP Employer Services to offer Visa-branded payroll cards to its clients. According to Visa, "the agreement reflects the two industry leaders’ commitment to grow prepaid card solutions that offer convenience and cost savings for businesses and their employees. The Visa branded ADP Total Pay card is issued by a number of Visa member financial institutions."   » Continue Reading

Erika Hayasaki writes for the Los Angeles Times about the Sigo card - a prepaid MasterCard debit card designed for immigrants. Sigo cards are Issued by MetaBank and marketed by IDT Stored Value Services. More information about Sigo is available on their website.

In an article titled 'Immigrants Wary of Banks Put Faith in New Card", Steven Greenhouse writes for the New York Times about SiGo, a prepaid MasterCard debit card issued by MetaBank and distributed by IDT Stored Value Systems. Greenhouse reports that cards are an "ideal tool for 30 million workers, both foreign-born and native, who lack bank accounts and often face high check-cashing fees and frustrating obstacles in paying bills."

In an article titled 'Payroll cards offer convenience at lower cost", James A. Ambrosio writes for Bankrate.com about the advantages of payroll cards - particularly for the unbanked.

The Center for Financial Services Innovation has posted a new paper titled "Distributing Prepaid Cards Through Worker Centers: A Gateway to Asset Building for Low-Income Households" (PDF) by Katy Jacob, Janice Fine and Lauren Leimbach.   » Continue Reading

Western Growers has announced they are partnering with Bank of America and Visa to offer a payroll solution that will help member companies reduce expenses and provide more convenience and flexibility to their employees by offering the CashPay Visa payroll card to their employees. CashPay Visa allows employees to avoid the fees associated with check-cashing services.   » Continue Reading

The Federal Reserve Board has announced its approval of a final rule to provide that payroll card accounts are covered by the Board's consumer protection regulation governing electronic fund transfers.   » Continue Reading

Ecount has released figures on Banked vs. Unbanked Cardholders: Understanding the Use of Prepaid Cards in Today's Marketplace. The data, based on the Ecount Prepaid Index, outlines baseline spending habits of both groups, as well as provides insight into the role that prepaid cards play in the lives of consumers.   » Continue Reading

Margarita Bauza of the Detroit Free Press writes about the use of payroll cards. "Payroll bank cards, popular with people who do not qualify for bank accounts or those who are more likely to use expensive check-cashing services, account for 21% of all consumer transactions. That translates to a $2.7-billion business in the United States alone. Boston-based consultant Aite Group says payroll card use is expected to grow to $27.1 billion in spending by 2009."

Money Network, a First Data Corp. company, and ADP Employer Services have announced a strategic agreement to provide a co-branded paycard, TotalPayCard, that "combines the resources and expertise of two industry leaders and will provide businesses of all sizes with a robust paycard solution."   » Continue Reading

Unlimited Diversity, Inc., a provider of prepaid products and services for BankFirst and MasterCard, has announced the launch of the PODER Payroll MasterCard, a card program it says is designed specifically to address the needs of the Hispanic immigrant in the United States.   » Continue Reading

Ecount has announced survey results concluding that payroll debit cards are as popular with banked employees as unbanked employees, establishing that payroll cards are a desired benefit for employees within all demographics.   » Continue Reading