MasterCard Worldwide has announced the launch of MasterCard Saving - calling it "a new, innovative program that provides Debit MasterCard and eligible Prepaid MasterCard cardholders with hundreds of significant merchant-funded discounts and special offers each day from thousands of merchants across the country. Debit and prepaid MasterCard cardholders can quickly enroll at http://savings.mastercard.com. There is no cost to cardholders."   » Continue Reading

Ecount has announced a name change to Citi Prepaid Services - saying the "strategic renaming comes as a final chapter in Ecount's successful integration with Citi, which acquired the Conshohocken-based company in March 2007. The acquisition was a part of a core strategy to enhance Citi's cash management platform for corporations, financial institutions and governments worldwide."   » Continue Reading

Visa today hosted an innovation briefing in New York, during which the company showcased advances in electronic payments that it says are "creating a future of “better money” that is more convenient, more reliable and more secure than cash or checks." Visa was joined by a number of prominent innovators including Google, Intel, Nokia and Singapore Post Ltd.   » Continue Reading

Visa has announced an enhancement to its prepaid reload network, Visa ReadyLink, that will enable consumers to add funds to eligible Visa prepaid cards at participating automated teller machines (ATMs) that accept envelope-free deposits across the United States. According to Visa, the new service is expected to rollout later this fall.   » Continue Reading

Revolution Money has announced the introduction of the MoneyExchange RevolutionCard, a PIN-based reloadable card that enables free online person-to-person (P2P) payments to other accountholders, ATM access and retail store purchases -- from a single account.   » Continue Reading

Mary Pilon writes for the Wall St. Journal that financial services companies are focusing more on prepaid debit cards on college campuses.

Altair Financial Services International Plc has announced it has launched a MasterCard prepaid travel car for Tesco Personal Finance (TPF), the banking arm of the UK’s largest and world's fourth largest retailer. The Tesco Travel Money Card will join an assortment of financial products already offered by TPF including credit cards, loans, mortgages, savings accounts and insurance.   » Continue Reading

The Bancorp Bank has announced it has been selected by Obopay to issue prepaid payment cards linked to Obopay mobile payment accounts. The bank says "the new cards are available now and are accepted anywhere MasterCard debit cards are accepted and at more than one million ATM locations worldwide. The cards are linked to Obopay mobile money accounts, which users can access through any mobile phone using Obopay’s downloadable mobile application, text messaging, or mobile Web."   » Continue Reading

Mocapay has announced that it has been selected by Smart Transaction Systems (STS) as a mobile marketing and payment platform to mobilize STS’s card-based payment systems. Mocapay’s mobile marketing and payment platform enables real-time mobile payments, promotions and loyalty at the point of sale. Mocapay and STS will launch a pilot in 2008, selecting from STS’s 4,500 retail clients.   » Continue Reading

NetSpend has announced an alliance with Axcess Financial alliance to create the NetSpend Axcess Prepaid MasterCard (the Axcess Card), a general purpose reloadable prepaid debit card, and enables the Axcess Card and the NetSpend National Savings Program to be available to thousands of customers across the country through Axcess Financial's distribution channels.   » Continue Reading

J.P. Morgan has announced that "Brooklyn and Chicago recently used J.P. Morgan prepaid debit cards in successful campaigns to take firearms off the streets. The gun buy back programs were sponsored by local law enforcement officials who offered citizens prepaid debit cards for working guns, no questions asked. More than 7,500 firearms were collected at community churches and other turn-in sites in the two cities."   » Continue Reading

Des Moines-based TMG (The Members Group) has announced it is expanding its prepaid product line with the availability of general purpose reloadable cards to its credit union clients. "The reloadable card service, called ATIRAreload, allows cardholders (and other authorized users) to load money onto the credit union-branded card, which can be used for purchases almost anywhere Visa Debit cards are accepted. The cards also function as ATM cards, giving cardholders instant access to cash."   » Continue Reading

Surcharge-free ATM access is gaining in popularity among debit card issuers as they explore new ways to better serve cardholders, according to the 2008 Debit Issuer Study, commissioned by PULSE. Financial institutions also are increasingly offering debit rewards.   » Continue Reading

JPMorgan has announced that it is "the first major financial institution to enable insurance companies to use prepaid debit cards to deliver workers compensation benefits to injured or disabled workers. The Chase Workers Compensation Card, issued by JPMorgan, provides insurance companies with an alternative method for paying injured workers and improves the benefits payment process by reducing the costs and time associated with paper-based check distribution. Cardholders benefit from efficient, economical and reliable access to insurance payments without having to wait for a check to arrive in the mail."   » Continue Reading

Citi and Green Dot have announced "a strategic alliance to provide Citi-issued general purpose gift cards and reloadable prepaid debit cards to consumers. In addition, Citi Cards’ retail business partners will have the opportunity to offer co-branded versions of these prepaid products to their customers. With this partnership, Green Dot further expands its national retail distribution of prepaid products."   » Continue Reading

In the UK, PayPal has announced the launch of a new prepaid top up card, the PayPal Top Up card - a reloadable VISA card and that PayPal says can be used almost anywhere the VISA symbol is displayed. PayPal says the card "gives people control over their spending, allowing them to pay as they go. It’s also ideal for consumers who do not have credit or debit cards, and want some way to spend their cash online." The Royal Bank of Scotland has partnered with PayPal and acts as the PayPal Top Up Card issuer.   » Continue Reading

The BBC reports on a failure of the Oyster prepaid card system earlier today during the morning rush hour in London. A similar failure occurred two weeks ago.

YALAMANCHILI International and ANZ have announced signing a 5 year agreement for YALAMANCHILI to provide prepaid processing services to ANZ in the Asia Pacific region. The first prepaid card program issued under this agreement is the ANZ Stadium Visa payWave card. The card will be the first reloadable, prepaid contactless card in Australia and will be launched at ANZ Stadium in Sydney for the Bledisloe Cup on 26 July, 2008.   » Continue Reading

DataMatrix Promotions, a marketing fulfillment company, has announced it has enhanced its rebate management capabilities by offering Chase Rebate Cards as part of its suite of payment methods. DataMatrix’s customers now can choose from prepaid debit cards, check disbursement or both when creating customized consumer rebate programs.   » Continue Reading

In India, Oxigen Services Pvt Ltd has announced OxiCash - described as "a prepaid stored value wallet accessible through the mobile or PC allowing users to make payments for a host of services such as prepaid mobile & TV recharges, telephone bill payments, travel services, e-commerce sites, mobile videos, music, games and other utility/insurance bill payments."   » Continue Reading

Altair Financial Services International has announced that "it will work with MasterCard to deliver the first prepaid card programs in Europe using MasterCard rePower, the MasterCard point-of-sale reload service. The first prepaid programs to benefit from MasterCard rePower loading facility in the UK will be issued by Newcastle Building Society in Spring 2009."   » Continue Reading

NetSpend and Skylight Financial have announced signing of a definitive merger agreement to combine business operations. They say that "the merger forms one of the largest private companies dedicated to meeting the financial services needs of unbanked and underbanked consumers in the United States."   » Continue Reading

Meta Payment Systems has announced it has contracted with Fiserv and TransUnion "to enhance the next generation of its award-winning iAdvance product. The partnerships enable Meta to expand its short-term, small dollar loan alternative that is accessed immediately on a MetaBank-issued prepaid card."   » Continue Reading

Glenbrook's Bryan Derman reflects on last week's actions by the FDIC and the FTC against CompuCredit and its sponsoring banks - and wondering how this new focus by the regulators on the activities of third parties might affect some other bank businesses in the US.

Payoneer has announced that it is helping direct selling industry leaders to pay their international sales representatives’ commissions on branded reloadable Prepaid MasterCard cards instead of sending them paper checks or wire transfers.   » Continue Reading

The Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council has announced publication of a new white paper, "Serving Unbanked Consumers in the Transit Industry with Prepaid Cards” , that examines how transit agencies can serve "unbanked" or "underbanked" individuals, including both the traditional approach of establishing retail sales outlets for fare media and a potential new approach of using network-branded prepaid cards.   » Continue Reading

InComm has announced a relationship with American Cash Exchange, Inc., a personal payment solutions provider and creator of the Poni Card, a US-to-Mexico money remittance card sold in peso values. Under the terms of the agreement, InComm will exclusively process and distribute Poni Cards throughout North America.   » Continue Reading

NovoPayment, a Latin America prepaid card service provider and program manager, has announced "new regional forecasts for general purpose spending cards – the classification given to branded payment cards similar in function to debit cards, but that require no underlying banking account."   » Continue Reading

Lori Montgomery writes for the Washington Post about the US Treasury Department's rollout of Direct Express MasterCard debit cards for the 2.1 million Social Security recipients who don't have bank accounts and can't receive electronic payment of their benefits. The card issuer is Comerica Bank. The program was originally announced earlier this year. Here's today's full press release on the rollout now underway.

NetSpend has announced an agreement with QC Financial, provider of payday loans, for a prepaid debit card program.   » Continue Reading

Springbok Services and Visa have announced an agreement that enables Springbok to offer Visa-branded prepaid card programs. According to Springbok, "the addition of the Visa brand allows Springbok to pass along Visa-specific advantages to its clients, which use Springbok prepaid cards for reward, incentive, promotion and rebate programs. Springbok prepaid card programs are designed to positively motivate behavior and enhance loyalty among corporate employees and/or their customers."   » Continue Reading

The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA) has announced that "a recent survey of 8,234 consumers uncovered high levels of enjoyment and personal connection to the branded gift cards experience."   » Continue Reading

Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP) has announced an alliance with Stored Value Solutions (SVS) that focuses on supplying gift cards to the global commercial airline community.   » Continue Reading

In late April, First Data Corp. announced the acquisition of InComm, a marketer, distributor and technology innovator of stored value gift and prepaid products. At the time, specific terms weren't announced. Yesterday, First Data filed a 10-Q with the SEC reporting its financial results for the first quarter of 2008. In that filing, First Data disclosed more information about the acquisition: "The Company will acquire InComm for approximately $980 million, plus contingent future payments of up to $250 million over a three-year performance period." FDC says the acquisition is expected to close later this year.

Travelex Cash Passport, the first prepaid foreign currency card in the United States according to the company, launched May 1. The card allows travelers to load and lock-in their rate for British Pounds or Euros.   » Continue Reading

The Bancorp Payment Solutions Group, a division of The Bancorp Bank, has announced it will be teaming with Deluxe Corporation, to offer the DeluxeCard agent bank program providing a turnkey prepaid card service to financial institutions.   » Continue Reading

In the UK, Monitise and Metavante have announced that they are working with Carphone Warehouse to launch a “mobile money” scheme that includes the introduction of a Carphone Warehouse prepay card managed directly from the mobile phone that can be used to shop in millions of outlets worldwide.   » Continue Reading

First Data Corp. has announced an agreement to acquire InComm, a marketer, distributor and technology innovator of stored value gift and prepaid products. Specific terms and conditions of the agreement were not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to be accretive to First Data. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year.   » Continue Reading

Marianne Crowe, Vice President, Emerging Payments Research Group, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, gave a presentation last week titled "Emerging Payments - The Changing Landscape" to the Maine Association of Community Banks and to the New Hampshire Community Bankers Association. Crowe's presentation discusses the growth in debit card payments, the emergence (and potential threats to banks) of decoupled debit cards, prepaid cards for the unbanked, and the use of the Internet for bill payment, ecommerce purchases, and person-to-person or account-to-account money transfers. She also discusses contactless payments and mobile banking.

The UK's Blueberry Card Services Ltd has introduced a 'new pay-as-you-go MasterCard card' that it says has been 'created specifically to help mothers manage their finances and save hundreds of pounds off their day-to-day expenses. The BaBee Prepaid MasterCard Card lets mums budget for their families, earn money with a referral scheme and save money with a broad range of discounts, all at a time when their income is reduced to maternity pay or less and household costs escalate.' The BaBee Blog provides insight into how the card is used by a mum in her daily life.   » Continue Reading

Metavante has announced an agreement with Advanced Payment Solutions (APS), making it the payment processing house for the entire prepaid portfolio of APS, including the cashplus prepaid gold MasterCard, the Gap Year cashplus card and a range of other fully re-loadable prepaid MasterCard programmes.   » Continue Reading

AAA has announced it has enhanced its prepaid card products using Visa Inc. and MetaBank as key program partners. The new AAA Visa TravelMoney card and Visa Gift card are now available at participating AAA locations across the country.   » Continue Reading

UreLife has announced 'the UK's first ever prepaid card to incorporate Government-approved proof-of-age verification.' By combining a prepaid Visa debit card with a colour photograph and PASS (Proof of Age Standards Scheme) accredited proof-of-age hologram, the card provides a new way for parents and retailers, and for the first time online retailers, to stop underage spending on age-restricted goods.   » Continue Reading

Bank of America has announced the launch of the Bank of America Visa Supply Shelf card, 'a prepaid debit card that allows teachers to make quick, hassle-free purchases of classroom supplies. The card, ranging in value from $25 to $750, can be used at designated school supply merchants, either in their stores or from their websites.'   » Continue Reading

AccountNow has announced several new services: the addition of the iAdvance Line of Credit from MetaBank, the elimination of upfront fees for new accounts with direct deposit, and the debut of Money 411, an online financial resource center.   » Continue Reading

At its annual meeting today, Starbucks announced several new initiatives including adding a new rewards feature for registered users of its Starbucks Card. Starbucks says that currently one in seven customers uses the Starbucks Card to pay.   » Continue Reading

The Mercator Advisory Group has published a new report titled "The Evolving Landscape for Prepaid Cards in Latin America and Europe".   » Continue Reading

The Mercator Advisory Group has published a new report titled "Restricted Authorization Networks: Winner Takes All" by Tim Sloane, Director of Mercator's Prepaid Advisory Service. The report explores "how merchants and others can bring Prepaid Cards and Debit Cards to market, funded by Decoupled Debit and other mechanisms, to help consumers better manage their expenses and deliver meaningful savings - and therefore addressing this growing consumer demand. But most importantly, this report identifies how Restricted Authorization Networks can control how these cards are used in ways that were never before possible."   » Continue Reading

Barclaycard Business has launched Prepaid Solutions, a product it says "will enable retailers to offer gift cards and other stored value solutions to their customers in a more cost effective and convenient way, with the ultimate aim of increased sales and enhanced customer loyalty. The nationwide launch today follows the completion of a successful three month pilot of a Gift Card with Autonomy, a ladies tailoring and special occasion clothes chain with 27 stores nationwide."   » Continue Reading

The Center for Financial Services Innovation has published a new report titled "Nonprofit Distribution of Prepaid Cards" . "This paper explores how three organizations—the Center for Community Change, the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley, and the Service Employees International Union—are combining a new product, prepaid debit cards, with new marketing and distribution methods to provide economical and convenient financial services to their communities."

NetSpend has announced it has entered into an agreement with Procesa International to offer NetSpend customers the ability to pay bills or load minutes to cell phones for friends or family members living in Mexico, Central or South America.   » Continue Reading

Calling it the "first ever prepaid foreign currency card", Travelex has announced it has teamed with MasterCard and West Suburban Bank to create the Cash Passport Card. The new Cash Passport cards are available in Euros and British Pounds with the exchange rate locked in at the time the card is loaded. Travelex says that for the consumer this means they avoid the risk of currency fluctuations.   » Continue Reading

Deborah Haynes reports for the London Times from Baghdad about prepaid MasterCards being distributed in Iraq by a Baghdad-based financial services company. "The firm has been providing pay-as-you-go MasterCards since 2004, although business started to pick up only over the past year as the country became more secure."

Meta Payments Systems has announced "the iAdvance Line of Credit for the millions of Americans who are unable to access affordable, small dollar credit."   » Continue Reading

The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association has published “Recommended Practices for Anti-Money Laundering Compliance for U.S.-based Prepaid Card Programs.” The association says the document will "assist in the industry’s response to reduce the potential for prepaid cards to be used for money laundering, financial crime or other illegal activity such as terrorist financing."   » Continue Reading

NetSpend and Advance America have announced an agreement "that makes prepaid, reloadable debit cards and gift cards available at just over 2,600 Cash Advance Centers across 35 states. Advance America, the country's leading provider of payday cash advance services, now makes prepaid cards a key component of its current suite of services in the United States."   » Continue Reading

First Data Corp. has announced that it has signed a contract with cadooz AG, a leading provider of corporate gift and incentive vouchers in Germany, to deliver card-based incentive and reward solutions.   » Continue Reading

FSV Payment Systems and MiCash have announced "the general availability of a fully integrated card-to-cash international money transfer functionality on prepaid payroll debit cards offered by FSV. This unique functionality is available currently to MiCash prepaid debit cardholders."   » Continue Reading

Metavante Technologies has announced the acquisition of London-based Nomad Payments Limited, a provider of prepaid and debit card processing and licensed software. The purchase price was approximately $58 million. Nomad will now operate as Metavante Technologies Limited, part of the Metavante International Group.   » Continue Reading

In a press release this morning, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service (FMS) announced it has "designated Comerica Bank as its financial agent in a new initiative to give millions of unbanked Americans the option of using a prepaid debit card for receiving Social Security and other federal benefit payments. The "Direct Express®" card provides a safer and more convenient alternative to paper checks. Comerica Bank was selected, in part, because of its experience as a prepaid card issuer for millions of benefit recipients, particularly for state government programs." The press release does not provide any information about which card network brand will be on the new cards.   » Continue Reading

Eleanor Laise reports for the Wall St. Journal on plans by the US Treasury Department to "introduce a prepaid debit card for Social Security recipients in an effort to provide safer and cheaper benefits payments." The card will be issued by Comerica Bank.

Celent has published a new report titled "Where the Banks Aren't: Nontraditional/Nonbank Advances in Branded Prepaid Cards". "Payment network-branded prepaid cards represent the "next big thing" in consumer payment cards. However, banks have yet to pursue the growth potential of general purpose reloadable cards for the unbanked population, which represents an untapped US$192 billion market."   » Continue Reading

HQ Gift Cards, a division of Stored Value Solutions, has announced the launch of “Gift Card Central” - bringing gift card malls to office workers and residents in 25 of Atlanta’s class A office developments and residential condominium towers. The concept seeks to make gift card-buying even more convenient for busy corporate executives, office workers and luxury condominium residents.   » Continue Reading

MasterCard has announced the launch of a prepaid reloadable travel card with travel industry data and financial solution provider Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC). The MasterCard Travel Card, which is available through ARC's network of more than 20,000 U.S. travel agent locations, features MasterCard PayPass contactless functionality in addition to the traditional magnetic stripe. MasterCard says "it is the first prepaid travel card offering in the U.S. to be equipped with contactless technology, a sign of the continued advancement of the category in the face of increased cardholder demand."   » Continue Reading

Capital One and NetSpend have announced that "they have mutually agreed to the termination of their previously announced acquisition agreement and that they have entered into a Letter of Intent to expand their existing strategic relationship. As part of the expanded strategic relationship, Capital One intends to acquire a minority interest in NetSpend, a leading retail marketer of prepaid debit cards, along with an option to purchase additional shares of the company. In addition, the parties expect that a Capital One representative will join the NetSpend Board of Directors."   » 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

Blackboard and Sony have announced "a partnership to support Sony FeliCa contactless technology in the Blackboard Commerce Suite, a family of applications supporting one-card transactions on-campus, off-campus and online and allowing for identification, payment and access."   » Continue Reading

Blackhawk Network has announced it is teaming with the National Football League (NFL) as the NFL's gift card partner.   » Continue Reading

Mercator Advisory Group has published a new report titled "Prepaid Market Forecasts 2007 to 2010" that provides "a forecast of growth for all 33 Prepaid Market Segments" including the load volumes and cards issued.   » Continue Reading

Highmark has launched the Healthcare Visa Gift Card - saying "the card provides an easy way for consumers and recipients to cover out-of-pocket expenses related to maintaining personal health and wellness."   » Continue Reading

Comdata Stored Value Solutions has announced the results of its fifth annual survey of gift card purchases showing that "the availability of gift card malls and expanded uses for gift cards are making them even more popular and versatile."   » Continue Reading

U.S. Bank has announced that it has issued its 20 millionth gift card this week, remaining the top Visa gift card issuer in the US. U.S. Bank reached the 10 millionth gift card milestone in July 2006, doubling the size of its gift card program in just over a year.   » Continue Reading

Mercator Advisory Group has announced its 4th Annual Prepaid Closed Loop Market Assessment, "documenting the spending, growth, and market dynamics for all Closed Loop Prepaid Solutions in 12 Categories and 33 Market Segments from 2003 through 2006."   » Continue Reading

A research report titled "Crediting Debit: How Debit Cards Will Grow in a Changing Environment" from TowerGroup concludes that "the debit card's increasingly dominant position as a payment vehicle will continue through 2009 and beyond. Prepaid cards will also continue their rapid growth as a result of foreclosures affecting credit scores and consumers continuing to require the benefits of payment card access."   » Continue Reading

Edgar, Dunn and Company's latest INSIGHT newsletter is now available with a feature article titled "The Race is On in Prepaid" by Mark Beresford and Steve Karp. "While no prepaid product has reached any significant level of dominance, important incremental victories are being won. Likewise, enough prepaid products have misfired at this point that we can see some lessons in the experiences of the non-starters."

First Data International has announced it is providing card processing services for the new VIsa prepaid card introduced by Dresdner Bank, part of the Allianz Group. According to First Data, "the Dresdner Prepaid Card combines the principle of prepayment made familiar in the mobile phone market with the payment functionality of a credit card. The card is not linked to a credit facility, and the customer defines the level of credit available on the card by making a deposit. To support the new card, First Data is providing processing and call centre services."   » Continue Reading

Archstone Consulting has announced the results of its 2007 Holiday Gift Card Survey examining the shopping habits of more than 1,000 web users across various age groups, gender and region. Based on the survey results, Archstone projects gift card purchases reaching an all-time high at $35 Billion this holiday season, compared to last year’s actual spending figure of $27.8 Billion, a 25 percent increase year-over-year.   » Continue Reading

In the UK, Telrock Communications Ltd, a mobile applications technology company focused on the financial services, utility and public-sector markets, has announced an exclusive agreement with PayPoint that will enable consumers to pay bills and top up their mobile phones via text message using its textDebit service.   » Continue Reading

Visa USA has announced that "Shell stations are adopting Visa partial authorization, which allows drivers to more easily purchase gas at the pump using a Visa prepaid card. Shell is in the process of expanding this service at stations across the U.S."   » Continue Reading

AccountNow, a marketer of network branded prepaid cards for the estimated 40 million underbanked consumers in the US market, has announced that the Center for Financial Services Innovation’s new Catalyst Fund is the final investor in the companies third round of venture funding announced in June.   » Continue Reading

TSYS Europe and The Gift Voucher Shop (GVS) have announced the launch of GVS’ One4all retail gift card campaign in five major Irish Post Offices in Dublin and on the GVS Web site, www.giftvouchershop.ie.   » Continue Reading

Green Dot has announced an agreement with RentPayment, an electronic payments processor in the multifamily industry, that enables customers of RentPayment to have access to convenient cash payment methods using Green Dot's MoneyPak.   » Continue Reading

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that a federal judge at the request of the FTC has temporarily halted an operation marketing Visa- and MasterCard-branded stored-value cards from making unauthorized debits from consumers’ bank accounts.   » Continue Reading

Capital One has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NetSpend Holdings, Inc., the parent company of NetSpend Corporation, a retail marketer of prepaid debit cards, for $700 million in an all-cash transaction.   » Continue Reading

The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA) has announced the "results of a survey on consumer attitudes towards reloadable prepaid cards. These cards generally carry the logo of Discover, MasterCard, or Visa and can be purchased by consumers or offered by employers, enabling cardholders to make purchases almost anywhere, pay recurring bills and get cash from ATMs. Survey respondents indicate that these products fill an unmet need and respond favorably to their benefits. In addition, early users of reloadable prepaid cards overwhelmingly have had positive experiences — good evidence these cards are easy to use, meet consumer expectations and offer solid value."   » Continue Reading

Parago, a provider of rebate, incentive and promotion solutions, has announced "FSV Payment Systems has been selected as a strategic partner for prepaid services. In the newly formed partnership, FSV Payment Systems will manage prepaid card processing while their partner, Meta Payment Systems will provide issuing bank services."   » Continue Reading

TSYS Europe and Lloyds TSB have announced the launch of the Lloyds TSB money transfer card in the UK. "The new Silver account from Lloyds TSB includes an innovative money transfer prepaid product, aimed particularly at the growing number of newly arrived migrants living and working in the U.K."   » Continue Reading

Vanessa Rozier writes for the Naples (Florida) Daily News about Wal-Mart's new MoneyCard - a prepaid Visa debit card. "Wal-Mart called the card a “life changer,” but it could be more of an industry changer, as the company grows into the banking industry."

BanX has announced plans to increase nationwide efforts of the Company's BanXcard Maestro Card - say it is "a safe substitute for traditional checking accounts that allow users to load cash on BanXcards at thousands of card-loading retailers including convenience, grocery and department stores and gas-stations." BanX claims its fee structure is simpler and less expensive when compared to Wal-Mart's MoneyCard. BanX's card is issued by BankFirst.   » Continue Reading

Aite Group has published a new report titled "Prepaid Cards: The State of the Industry" saying that it "expects the value of branded and private label prepaid card transactions to amount to US$178 billion by 2010, up from US$113 billion in 2007."   » Continue Reading

The Bancorp has announced "an agreement with BankFirst, a South Dakota banking corporation, to acquire its "Stored Value Solutions" ("SVS") business. SVS is a leader in the stored value card industry, also known as the prepaid card industry, with more than 3.7 million prepaid cards issued at June 30, 2007."   » Continue Reading

PAYjr has announced a prepaid card for teens that allows them to "upload pictures for the design of their card."   » Continue Reading

2Checkout.com has announced that it has partnered with Payoneer to "provide its suppliers with the option of receiving their usual weekly payments via a prepaid MasterCard card, instead of a paper check or wire transfer."   » Continue Reading

MasterCard Worldwide has announced a strategic agreement with Green Dot Corporation, operator of the Green Dot Network, to expand the ability of consumers to reload prepaid cards enrolled in the MasterCard rePower point of sale load network at retail locations throughout the United States.   » Continue Reading

The Payment System Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has published a briefing article by Terri Bradford titled "Stored-Value Cards: A Card for Every Reason..." (PDF) that discusses the various uses of stored-value cards and the different degrees of their growth and acceptance. Bradford is also the author of "Paper, Plastic.....or Phone?" (PDF), a briefing about mobile payments and banking published last December.

Ron Galloway writes for the Huntington Post about how Wal-Mart's "new Wal-Mart Money Card is simply a deposit account by another name. It can house savings, pay bills, and purchase goods and services any where a VISA card can."

AccountNow, a marketer of MasterCard and Visa branded prepaid cards, has announced the closing of $12.75 million in a third round of venture funding led by Trident Capital.   » Continue Reading

Dove Consulting's latest newsletter has an article titled "Open Loop Prepaid: The Jury Is Still Out" by Chris Allen, Senior Manager. In the article, Allen says "despite all the rosy growth projections, the jury is still out on open loop prepaid and a winning strategy has yet to emerge on either the issuer or processor side."

InComm has announced that the Mio Money Prepaid MasterCard and the Mio Now Card issued by BankFirst are now available to consumers with no monthly fees attached. When the card is used, consumers pay a fee - but there is no longer a monthly fee.   » Continue Reading

Wal-Mart has announced it will open 1,000 Wal-Mart MoneyCenters -- covering a quarter of its stores -- by the end of 2008 and has begun the launch of the Wal-Mart MoneyCard, a reloadable prepaid Visa rolling out nationally with GE Money and Green Dot.   » Continue Reading

MSNBC's Bob Sullivan takes a look at rebate cards - saying that "many firms have taken to issuing debit-card-like gift cards instead of rebate checks. Known in the industry as "prepaid rebate cards," the cards do offer some benefits. But they also come laden with gotchas that can leave you with worthless plastic."