PILOT PROGRAMES WITH
LESS THAN < 10,000 CARDS
Launch generic or tailored prepaid card programmes or pilot schemes without minimum volume commitments to take advantage of short term opportunities
COBRANDED OR FULLY BRANDED WITH MORE THAN > 10,000 CARDS
Work with market leaders in global prepaid card solutions to launch co-branded or fully branded prepaid card programmes with added value
11.10.10 - Prepaid Cards Overtake Travellers' Cheques at Travelex New figures reveal prepaid currency cards are outselling travellers' cheques by 70 to 1 as Brits get more savvy when it comes to overseas spending, according to Travelex. Additional research commissioned by MasterCard forecast the Europe prepaid market to swell by 27 per cent each year.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/prepaid-credit-cards-overtake-travellers-cheques-at-travelex.html
13.09.10 - Travelex Supports British Judo With Prepaid Credit Cards Foreign exchange specialist, Travelex, take the lead in bringing sponsorship and support via the channel of prepaid credit cards by supporting the British Judo Team and there definitely seems to be a push on to bring prepaid credit cards into the payments mainstream.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/british-judo-team-gets-travelex-prepaid-credit-cards-support.html
06.08.10 - Travelex Launch New Prepaid Ad Campaign Foreign exchange specialist, Travelex, is to launch a new ad campaign on travel money; the first above-the-line activity the currency giant has produced in over five years. The ads, that commenced on 2nd August are promoting the Cash Passport prepaid MasterCard® currency card and centre on the ‘Avoid getting stung on holiday’ theme supported by the strap line ‘The new way to carry currency'.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/travelex-launches-new-prepaid-ad-campaign.html
17.02.10 - Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Award Winners Announced Prepaid365, the UK's leading prepaid card comparison site, announced the winners of the Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Awards 2010 recognising best in class prepaid card providers in the UK across different categories such as Money Transfer, Travel, Payroll, Gaming, General Spend, Online Shopping and Youth.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/prepaid365_prepaid_card_awards_2010_winners_announced.html
2009 News
22.12.09 - Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Winners to be Announced in January 2010 The second edition of the prestigious Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Awards was announced in december 2009 with a call for entries. Results will be announced in January 2010. The awards aim to recognise the best in category service provider for different categories as well as highlight a few worth runners ups in each of those categories. A new international category has been added.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/prepaid365-prepaid-card-winners-to-be-announced-in-january-2010.html
16.12.09 - BaBeeCard Prepaid MasterCard Spend up by 50% With the economic downturn, consumer confidence has been shaken and spend is down. This is not the case with prepaid cards with BaBeeCard announcing that spend is up by 50% on their prepaid cards.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/babeecard-prepaid-mastercard-spend-up-by-50-percent.html
07.11.09 - Financial Services Authority takes over Regulation of the Banks and Building Societies As of November 1, the Banking Code Standards Board will no longer be responsible for the regulation of the way banks and building societies do business with their customers. This job of regulation has now been taken over by the the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/fsa-takes-over-bank-and-building-society-regulation.html
06.11.09 - US Military get Prepaid Cards as Special Benefits Gateway Energy Services Corporation in the US has come up with a unique benefit for Military Personnel. The benefits are going to be made available from 11th November, 2009 whereby military customers will get a visa prepaid card worth $75 along with a 5% discount on the firms monthly rate of natural gas and electricity as long as those customers are active U.S. military and reserve personnel, honorably discharged U.S. veterans, and surviving spouses or parents of U.S. military personnel.
Read more: http://www.theenergydaily.com/pressreleases/electricity/200911061616PR_NEWS_USPR_____NY07088.html
07.08.09 - Phones4u Goes Head to Head with O2 with Prepaid MasterCard Launches Phones4U has decided to go head-to-head with O2 and other mobile providers in the financial services market, with the launch of two Mastercard prepaid cards. The Escape MasterCard Prepaid Card is aimed at ethnic minorities who regularly move money to families abroad and the Neon MasterCard Prepaid Card targets 13 to 18 year olds.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/phones4u-launches--prepaid-mastercard-cards.html
28.07.09 - BaBeecard Wins Best Gift Card at Prepaid365 Awards 2009 Gemma Johnson, CEO at BaBeeCard delighted to win another award for the BaBeeCard at the Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Awards 2009 by scooping top honours in the Best Prepaid Gift Card category beating off strong competition from a host of others.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/babeecard-wins-best-gift-card-at-prepaid365-awards-2009.html
27.07.09 - Prepaid365 Announce Prepaid Card Award Winners Prepaid365 announced the first edition of the quarterly Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Awards yesterday. The awards aim to recognise the best in category service provider for different categories as well as highlight a few worthy runners ups in each of those categories. Cashplus, Caxton FX and Splash prepaid were big winners on the night.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/prepaid365-announce-prepaid-card-winners.html
15.07.09 - O2 Announce Prepaid Credit Card Launch with Cash Card and Load and Go Card O2 has partnered with NatWest to make its debut in the personal finance market with the launch of O2 Money, a new business within O2 that will seek to advance the increasing synergies between mobile and money. The first products from O2 Money, supported by NatWest, are two cash cards, designed to give people greater control of their money.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/o2-announce-prepaid-credit-card-launch.html
08.07.09 - No ATM Charges on the Caxton FX Card Caxton FX have just announced that there will no longer be any ATM charges on their Euro and Dollar Cards making the Caxton FX travel money cards an even better proposition for consumers who are travelling abroad. Exceptional Value.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/ATM-charges-dropped-on-caxton-FX-prepaid-card.html
30.06.09 - Free Added Value Payment Protection with Freedom Eagle Cashcard A host of added value payment protection services on offer with the Freedom Eagle Cashcard. This includes 30 day payment protection, 30 day purchase protection and 12 month extended warranty on products purchased with the Freedom eagle prepaid card.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/free-value-added-payment-protection-with-freedom-eagle-cashcard.html
29.06.09 - First Data take a chunk out of TSYS Bank of America and First Data announce the formation of a new company to market card programmes and offer payment processing services to nearly 400,000 merchant clients. The new company is called Banc of America Merchant services and is owned 46.5% by Bank of America, 48.5% by First Data and the remaining stake is held by a third party investment vehicle.
Read more: http://www.prepaid365.com/news/first-data-take-a-chunk-out-of-tsys.html
15.05.09 - Brits trying to kick Credit Cards into touch Payments Association APACS has highlighted that Brits are turning away from credit cards to debit cards during the recession. Spending on plastic rose by 5.4% of which a staggering 75% was accounted for by Debit Cards (up 4% oin last year) whereas credit card spend in the same period fell by 3%.
Read more: http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=20038
03.04.09 - Scheffer steps in and Altair Financial Services becomes Altair Technologies Scheffer Group announced that it has brought Altair Financial Services our of administration and taken over all the Prepaid Card business formerly controlled by Altair Financial Services International PLC. They are now working with MasterCard to ensure all card programmes issued by Newcastle Building Society continue to be operational.
Read more: http://www.finextra.com/fullpr.asp?id=26862
11.03.09 - Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance and CredECard introduce prepaid card programme Lloyds TSB commercial finance and CredECard have teamed up to introduce the Acorn prepaid card. The Acorn prepaid card will enable agencies to pay their temporary unbanked staff in the same way as banked staff. Employees receive instant access to their wages and gain the added flexibility of a card that can be used to pay in both real and virtual environments where MasterCard is accepted and withdraw cash from ATMs.
Read more: http://www.finextra.com/fullpr.asp?id=26452
2008 News
10.09.08 - Tesco prepaid card launched by Altair Financial Services and Newcastle Building Society Altair Financial Services International Plc and Newcastle Building Society, have launched a MasterCard® prepaid travel card programme for Tesco Personal Finance (TPF), the banking arm of the UK’s largest and world's fourth largest retailer.
Read more: http://www.finextra.com/fullpr.asp?id=23247
28.08.08 - Sushi restaurant Wasabi rolls out contactless payments Following a four week pilot at restaurants in Canary Wharf and Oxford Street in London, Wasabi - which previously only accepted cash payments - has deployed the technology through its entire estate.
Read more: http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=18904
28.08.08 - 7500 firearms returned in Guns for pre-paid cards programme A gun amnesty scheme launched in Brooklyn and Chicago that saw working weapons exchanged for pre-paid debit cards loaded with up to $200 has resulted in over 7500 firearms being handed in.
Read more: http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=18901
27.08.08 - Altair Appoint new Client Services Director Altair Financial Services International Plc (Altair), global prepaid card and transaction processing solutions provider, announced today that it has named Sarah Francis as Client Services Director.
Read more: http://www.finextra.com/fullpr.asp?id=23023
11.08.08 - $10m spent on Visa cards on first day of Beijing games Visa says international tourists visiting Beijing for the Olympics spent nearly US$10 million on Visa credit, debit and pre-paid cards on the opening day of the Games.
Read more: http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=18843
01.08.08 - PayPal launches a prepaid card in the UK PayPal has launched a reloadable pre-paid Visa card for the UK market that can be used to pay for purchases in traditional retail stores as well as via the Internet. The fees are not great but for PayPal users, the card represents an opportunity to use funds stored on their PayPal account instantly. This will, however, mean that using PayPal becomes a tad more expensive overall.
Read more: http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=18809
09.07.08 - MasterCard and Altair teams on pre-paid POS re-load service Altair Financial Services International (Altair), a leading global prepaid card and transaction processing solutions provider, 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.
Read more: http://www.finextra.com/fullpr.asp?id=22314
27.06.08 - Altair unveils pre-paid contactless PayPass wrist watch UK pre-paid card outfit Altair Financial Services has unveiled a wrist watch featuring MasterCard's PayPass pre-paid contactless payments technology that can be reloaded with funds. The vendor has teamed with RFID specialist CardPOS Europe, smart card outfit ID Data and watch maker Laks on the watch, which is capable of supporting offline transaction authorisations.
Read more: http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=18654
29.05.08 - Altair Financial Services announces Industry Accolades As the network branded prepaid and stored value card industry continues to develop on a global scale, so too have the number of awards recognising achievement in this new payments sector. Altair Financial Services International Plc (Altair), a leader in global prepaid card programs and transaction processing, have again been honoured with award wins and nominations for market leading prepaid programs and advanced technology.
Read more: http://www.openpr.com/news/45872/Altair-Announces-Industry-Accolades.html
23.05.08 - Red88 - Chinese People's prepaid cashcard launched Altair Financial Services International Plc (Altair) has a launched the RED88 Prepaid MasterCard® in conjunction with RED88 Ltd (Part of Spectrum Financial Group) and card issuer, Newcastle Building Society. The RED88 card is aimed at Chinese nationals, for both general use as well as remittances.
Read more: http://www.red88.co.uk
19.05.08 - BaBee Card prepaid card launched to save Mothers' money Blueberry Card Services Ltd, a provider of innovative consumer prepaid services, have announced the launch of the BaBee Prepaid MasterCard® card. The BaBee Card will be the first UK pay-as-you-go MasterCard® card created specifically to help new mothers manage their finances and save money on their day-to-day expenses.
Read more: http://www.customerthink.com/news/altair_blueberry_prepaid_card_mothers
16.04.08 - g2g Youth Card Launched by Cambridgeshire County Council Cambridgeshire County Council works with prepaid debit card pioneers to give disadvantaged young people more independence.
Read more: http://www.g2gcard.co.uk
02.04.08 - InsureandGo Prepaid Card Wins 'Best Use Of IT in Insurance' Award At the FST Awards 2008 Altair Financial Services International Plc (Altair), a leading prepaid card and transaction processing services provider, and Raphaels Bank, specialist prepaid card issuing bank, announced today that the InsureandGo Prepaid Travel Card program has been selected as the winner of the Best use of IT in Insurance category at the FST Awards 2008.
Read more: http://allpaynews.com/node/3337
18.03.08 - Manchester City FC contactless season ticket with PayPass launched Altair Financial Services International Plc (Altair) have helped deliver the first stadium contactless prepaid card in Europe, the Manchester City FC MasterCard Prepaid Seasoncard with PayPass, with MBNA and MasterCard. The card will replace the standard season ticket currently issued to supporters.
Read more: http://www.insidemoneytalk.com/news/mbn/mbn103.html
13.03.08 - Caxton FX prepaid card launch The Caxton FX prepaid travel card program has been relaunched with an extensive upgrade through Altair Financial Services. The prepaid card program now boasts a host of new features, including the Altair Mobile Payments System (AMPS), both US Dollar and Euro currency options and enables cardholders to select their own PIN at the time of application.
Read more: https://www.caxtonfxcard.com
07.03.08 - InsureandGo Prepaid Card Program winner of two awards at 2008 PAYBEFORE awards The InsureandGo Prepaid Travel Card program has been selected as a winner of two awards at the 2008 Paybefore Awards. The program, managed by Altair Financial Services, has won awards in the Best Claim Card Program and Best Consumer Card Program;.
Read more: http://allpaynews.com/node/4086
18.02.08 - Limited Edition contacless Brit Awards prepaid Card launched Altair Financial Services International Plc, a leading innovator in the payments arena, has worked with MasterCard® to create the first ever BRIT Awards PayPass™ card. All table ticket holders and all MasterCard-invited balcony ticket holders will receive an exclusive limited edition BRIT Awards Prepaid MasterCard PayPass card with their ticket.
Read more: http://www.morerfid.com/details.php?subdetail=Report&action=details&report_id=4167
2010 News
