Tags: awards 2013, card, prepaid, Prepaid365

Prepaid365, the UK’s leading prepaid card comparison portal, announced the winners of the 5^th Edition of the Prepaid365 Awards 2013 sponsored by Optimal Payments, with consumers across the UK voting for their favourite prepaid cards across 22 different categories including General Spend, Travel, Money Transfer, Payroll, Gaming, Gifting, Basic Banking, Online Shopping and Youth.

Launched in 2009, the Prepaid365 Awards are the UK’s definitive and most representative consumer prepaid awards where accolades and recognition are delivered solely based on consumer votes, and the 5^th edition of the awards were graced with 117 entries across 22 different categories, with over 417,000 votes being received over 3 months of voting.

Divya Sharma, Marketing and PR Director at Prepaid365 and prepaid marketing consultancy Emotion Associates, stated: “The story of the Prepaid365 Awards is representative of the Prepaid Industry itself as the awards have grown in stature and representation, in line with the growing awareness, interest and usage of prepaid cards by consumers and businesses across the UK. We are delighted to play our role in furthering that growth and awareness through the Prepaid365 Awards and the Prepaid365 Web Portal, which represents an essential bookmark and place to start for all things prepaid.”

Winners at the Prepaid365 Awards 2013 include:

Milind Kangle, CEO of Lycamoney Ltd, said:  “All of us here at Lycamoney are extremely delighted to have won the prepaid365 award for the ‘Best Money Transfer Prepaid Card’ for the second year running. We are dedicated to providing innovative solutions to meet the needs of our customers and work hard to make life less complicated, not only for those who travel the world, but also for those who wish to send money back home to their family and friends. We are grateful and would like to thank all of our loyal customers for showing us their generous support in voting for us.” 

Danny Jatania, CEO at Pockit Prepaid commented: “We are delighted to have won the ‘Best Newcomer Prepaid Card’ award, especially since these awards are voted for by the consumer. The Pockit Prepaid Card gives our customers exceptional value, a secure and simple way to manage their finances and big rewards for their spend. Our innovative approach has enabled us to secure exclusive deals with retailers and ensure our customers can receive cashback and great savings on their purchases. This award shows that we are succeeding in our quest to be the best. Thanks to Prepaid365 for organising the awards – probably the most important in the industry as they are decided by the end users, and that makes us all the more proud of our achievement to date.”

Amit Sharma, CEO and Senior Prepaid Consultant at Prepaid365 and founder of the Prepaid365 Awards commented:  “The Prepaid365 Awards represent a celebration of the growth of the Prepaid Industry and allow prepaid providers the ability to gauge the true success of the innovation, design, marketing, servicing, features and functionality that drive their prepaid card programmes, through consumer votes and endorsement.”

“I would like to congratulate all the winners and runner up’s and all entrants for making the Prepaid365 Awards a resounding success in 2013. I would also like to thank our sponsors at Optimal Payments, Transact24, ICE, Pockit, Prepaid Financial Services and PrepaidEye for their wonderful support of the Prepaid365 Awards, as well as consumers who continue to support us across the surveys and social media for sharing their experiences, voting and supporting their favourite prepaid cards.”

Prepaid365 is the UK’s leading prepaid card portal online to review, compare and buy prepaid cards representing an encyclopaedia of information on prepaid cards, providers and all things prepaid. Find out more about the winners at www.prepaid365awards.co.uk or visit www.prepaid365.com to review and compare prepaid cards for consumers and businesses across various categories including Money Transfer, Travel, Gaming, Shopping, Payroll and Expense management, Privacy, Gifting and Business.

What the Winners said

• Philip Hanson , Director Marketing and e-Commerce at Travelex, stated: ‘We are absolutely delighted to be acknowledged again at the Prepaid365 Awards by consumers and our customers.  As the world’s leading foreign exchange specialist, Travelex prides itself on leading the way in educating consumers and the wider prepaid community, so we were particularly thrilled to receive the award for our Campaign for Clarity, which was designed to help cut through the confusion and highlight the benefits of prepaid currency cards. This award is testament to the team’s hard work in delivering on those goals. A special thank you to everyone who took the time to vote.’
• David Buxton, Managing Director Credit for Virgin Money said: “We are delighted that our cards have once again performed so strongly in the Prepaid365 Awards. Virgin Money is continuing to build it’s range of banking services for customers and to offer real competition in the market. These awards offer further testimony to the choice and good value we are offering consumers across our product range.” 
• Rupert Lee-Browne, Chief Executive at Caxton FX commented: ‘‘We are delighted to accept the ‘Best Travel Prepaid Card’ for the fifth consecutive year. Our premise at Caxton FX has always been to deliver innovative and great value products, whilst providing the very highest standards of customer service. The great thing about the Prepaid365 Awards is that it provides a unique and impartial benchmark for the prepaid card industry, where the consumer chooses the winners and not the industry experts. Winning this award proves that we are succeeding in our premise, and we promise to continue giving our customers the best possible travelling experience when abroad.”
• Tom Johnson, Head of Direct Business at ICE said “I’d like to thank our customers for voting for the ICE Travellers Cashcard.  Our customers are at the heart of everything we do at ICE, as shown by our excellent ratings at The Review Centre and our recent Number 1 direct currency provider accolade from Which?  We are really trying to focus on getting travellers a great deal on their overseas spending, that’s why our Euro and US Dollar ICE Travellers Cashcard products have NO FEES attached.  We’re delighted that customers are voting with their feet as shown by our incredibly strong sales performance this year and we’re also grateful to Prepaid365 for organising these excellent awards.”
• Jason Rees, Director of New Business at Everything Everywhere (EE), stated “We are thrilled that our customers turned out in such high numbers to secure us the top spot for Best Prepaid Innovation and runner-up position for Best General Spend Prepaid Card for the Orange Cash App and Orange Cash Card respectively.  It is a wonderful recognition of the hard work our team has done, and continues to do, to support this product and its users, and follows on from last year’s win in the Best Newcomer Prepaid Card category. Watch this space for further exciting developments from EE in the very near future.”
• Noel Moran, CEO of Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), commented: “We are delighted to win this accolade and also note that a number of our clients have been voted in the top 2 in the various consumer award categories at the Prepaid365 Awards 2013. Their success as much as ours, is an excellent endorsement of the holistic services we provide as an Issuer, Acquirer and Programmer Manager. The last 12-18 months have been an exceptional period of growth and reward for PFS and our clients including Government, Large Business, Corporate’s as well as SME’s. We are delighted to have won this award for a 2nd year running as our prepaid programmes continue to make an impact on the global stage.”
• Milind Kangle, CEO of Lycamoney Ltd, said:  “All of us here at Lycamoney are extremely delighted to have won the prepaid365 award for the ‘Best Money Transfer Prepaid Card’ for the second year running. We are dedicated to providing innovative solutions to meet the needs of our customers and work hard to make life less complicated, not only for those who travel the world, but also for those who wish to send money back home to their family and friends. We are grateful and would like to thank all of our loyal customers for showing us their generous support in voting for us.”
• Samuel Mond, Director of ClearCash, stated: “The team at ClearCash have worked hard over the last 12 months to listen to what cardholders are looking for and make improvements to ensure we stand out from the crowd as the people’s choice for the best and most functional Prepaid Card offering with similar benefits to that of a basic bank account and more.  We’re delighted to be named Best Basic Bank Account Prepaid Card by Prepaid365 and want to thank everyone involved.”
• Elizabeth Jones, Assistant Director of Finance at London Borough of Brent, stated: “Our service users have voted this system as a winner. What better accolade than that from our very own residents, the people who use the Brent Direct Payments prepayment system on a daily basis.”
• Philip Aim, Director & General Manager of Creacard SA, stated: “We are very proud to have won the prestigious Prepaid365 Award for Best International Prepaid Card in 2013 for our PCS Mastercard. More than the award itself, however, is the meaning behind it. As this award is a result of consumer votes, it not only means that our PCS card provides the features and functionalities at a price that consumers appreciate but that we do it in a consistent way and that this consistency is rewarded by the cardholder. This award serves as a great springboard and additional incentive to further implement the same quality of services and product for consumers in other countries.”
• Danny Jatania, CEO at Pockit Prepaid commented: “We are delighted to have won the ‘Best Newcomer Prepaid Card’ award, especially since these awards are voted for by the consumer. The Pockit Prepaid Card gives our customers exceptional value, a secure and simple way to manage their finances and big rewards for their spend. Our innovative approach has enabled us to secure exclusive deals with retailers and ensure our customers can receive cashback and great savings on their purchases. This award shows that we are succeeding in our quest to be the best. Thanks to Prepaid365 for organising the awards – probably the most important in the industry as they are decided by the end users, and that makes us all the more proud of our achievement to date.”
• Damien Turman, Chief Marketing Director, VERITAS commented: “It’s an honour for our high end prepaid card VERITAS Mastercard to add to our prize list this award of best unbanked prepaid card. This category is probably the most appropriate to designate a prepaid card. VERITAS is a high end prepaid card with no conditions, no commitments and no monthly fees specifically created for people with or without bank account. VERITAS thanks all its partners who participate in this success and especially our new card issuer PFS, Ukash voucher and Neosurf voucher for making easy onto VERITAS card any load with cash all over Europe and North Africa.”
• Harald Seiz, CEO and Founder at Karatbars International GmbH, commented: “We are very proud to have won the ‘Best Prepaid Card Design award’, and it is great to gain this consumer recognition. This is a great achievement for us and the team has worked very hard on this product. Our affiliates are very happy to have the branded Karatbars Prepaid Mastercard.”
• Myles Stephenson, CEO of CorporatePay, stated: “It is absolutely fantastic to be recognised as the best B2B prepaid card provider for small programmes at the Prepaid365 Awards 2013. We work tirelessly to develop our corporate solutions and to help our clients transform the way they manage payments with their employees, suppliers and customers. We’re extremely pleased to have developed an impressive portfolio of business users, which encompasses a significant and growing portfolio of accounts. We have combined our payments knowledge with deep experience of the sectors in which our clients operate to deliver a service which is easy to implement, easy to use and quickly delivers financial as well as operational benefits to our clients.  This award is not only assurance that we are getting it right but a sign that we have been able to impact positively on our clients’ finance management.”
• Danny Chazonoff, Chief Operating Officer at Optimal Payments, commented: “It is overwhelming to be recognised by consumers in so many categories, and especially as Best Overall Prepaid Card. We delight in providing industry-leading product developments that make our customers’ lives easier.”

To find out more about the winners and runners up at the Prepaid365 Awards 2013, visit the Prepaid365 Awards website at http://www.prepaid365awards.co.uk

ENDS

For further information, please contact Prepaid365/Emotion Associates Limited:

Prepaid365 – The Prepaid Card Comparison Portal

Prepaid365 is the UK’s leading prepaid card portal online to review, compare and buy prepaid credit cards representing an encyclopaedia of information on prepaid cards, providers and all things prepaid.

The annual Prepaid365 awards, launched in 2009, recognise best in class prepaid propositions and prepaid card providers voted for by consumers and Prepaid365’s subject matter experts, respectively with the awards being based on various factors including application process, card design, fee structure, features, functionality, added value and feedback from customer, customer services and the prepaid industry. Visit Prepaid365 to find out more about the awards and this years’ winners at http://www.prepaid365.com of visit the dedicated Prepaid365 Award website at www.prepaid365awards.co.uk

Prepaid365 is a trading name of Emotion Associates Limited – UK Registration Number: 06964513

Contact Details:

• Email:                                            awards@prepaid365.com
• Contact Person:                        Amit Sharma
• Telephone:                                 +44 (0) 78347 26087
• Website:                                     http://www.prepaid365.com
• Twitter:                                        http://twitter.com/prepaid365
• Facebook:                                   http://www.facebook.com/Prepaid365UK
• Prepaid365 Blog                       https://www.prepaid365.com/voice/

Emotion Associates Limited – Dedicated Prepaid Marketing Consultancy

Emotion Associates Limited was founded by Amit Sharma, a Senior Marketing professional and prepaid industry consultant who worked for some of the largest prepaid card providers in the UK Industry.

A dedicated marketing consultancy exclusively serving the prepaid card industry in the UK, Emotion specialise in producing tailored campaigns to define, launch and market prepaid cards with two goals in mind: Acquisition  and Branding.

With extensive experience in all areas of marketing to include Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC), Display Advertising, Affiliate Marketing, E-mail Marketing and the Social Media marketing mix as well as consultancy services around offline Marketing and Retail Channel Development, Emotion Associates are the specialist experts to help set your product apart in an extremely congested UK market with over 200 prepaid card providers making it increasingly difficult for those prepaid card providers to get their message and unique value proposition across.

Emotion Associates aim to increase visibility and awareness of your brand and find the most cost effective mechanism to convert that Awareness, into Interest, Desire and ultimate Action (AIDA). Find out more at www.prepaid-marketing.co.uk

Contact Details:

• Email:                                            info@prepaid-marketing.co.uk
• Tel:                                                 +44 (0) 7834726087
• Website:                                     http://www.prepaid-marketing.co.uk
• LinkedIn:                                     http://uk.linkedin.com/in/amitsharmauk