The Prepaid Press - April 15, 2008 - (Page 24)

RETAIL FOCUS April 15 · 2008 - 24 PLS Offering Walk-In Bill Payment IPP Application Added to Check Cashing CHICAGO, IL and FAIRFIELD, NJ (March 22, 2008) PLS Financial Services has implemented an application by IPP of America to integrate walk-in bill payment. Chicago-based PLS Financial Services, Inc. operates more than 300 financial service centers in Alabama, Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, New York, Texas and Wisconsin. Bill payments will be offered in 100 PLS Check Cashers locations. PLS ePay is a single bill payment application that allows customers to pay bills with cash at any PLS Check Cashers. The cash payment will be converted to an electronic payment through the IPP payment processing system, and the customer will receive immediate confirmation that the bill has been paid. PLS said that ePay is expected to be fully deployed in April 2008. IPP provided the application and is providing expanded bi-lingual customer support for PLS bill-payment inquiries. “It’s a natural fit for PLS to use IPP technology to give our customers an innovative approach to bill payment. The result is a superior customer experience,” said Dan Wolfberg, Co-President of PLS. The IPP integration will give PLS a single platform for all transactions, which will have an immediate impact on back-office operations and work flow. “We are delighted that PLS has started to see the immediate benefits that we planned to deliver and we look forward working with PLS to help them achieve their goals,” said Ron Averett, President and CEO, IPP of America. It is one of the largest organizations in the check cashing industry and ranks among the top Western Union networks in America. PLS Financial Services is a member of Financial Service Centers of America (FiSCA). The PLS Financial Service brands include: PLS Loan Store, which provides micro-loans; PLS Check Cashers, which offers check cashing, money transfer services, money orders and utility bill payment; PLS Tax Service; and PLS superstores, which offer multiple services in one location. Source PLS Financial Services: (www.plsfinancial.com) Credit Card Breach at Hannaford Bros. Supposedly Secure Grocery Chain Network Hit SCARBOROUGH, ME (March 31, 2008) A fiber optic network operated by a Maine grocery chain, thought to be secure, was hit by a “novel and sophisticated attack” that compromised as many as 4.2 million credit and debit card numbers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Hannaford’s president and CEO, Ronald C. Hodge, apologized for the breach, and said that the company has stopped the theft. In addition, Hodge said that the company has brought in “top security experts” to help prevent future attacks. The numbers that may have been compromised were credit and debit cards used at Hannaford between December 7, 2007 and March 10, 2008. Hannaford said the breach was card numbers only, and no personal data such as names or addresses were accessed or obtained. The company said that customers should carefully review their statements to check for unauthorized charges. Hodge said that customers should be protected against unauthorized transactions as long as the charges can be verified as fraudulent and are reported within the required time period. He said that if a customer does have any extraordinary out-of-pocket expenses associated with card replacement, the company would review these on a case by case basis. Source: Hannaford Brothers (www.hannaford.com) NACS Withdraws Opposition to Tobacco Bill Legislation Would Give FDA Authority Over Tobacco ALEXANDRIA, VA (March 31, 2008) After working with House Energy and Commerce Committee members to include provisions that address retailer concerns, NACS has withdrawn its opposition to H.R. 1108, a bill that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over tobacco manufacturing and retailing. For many years, NACS had opposed H.R. 1108 and similar legislation because of concerns over how the bill proposed to regulate the retail sale of tobacco. “The current version of the legislation addresses all the concerns we had raised 18 months ago,” said NACS Senior Vice President of Government Relations Lyle Beckwith. “We will not oppose this House bill as presently crafted,” he said. The House Energy and Commerce is scheduled to mark-up H.R. 1108, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, on April 2. NACS will continue to oppose the language of S. 625, the Senate version, unless the same changes are made. Source: NACS (www.nacsonline.com) Spend Gift Cards ASAP Warns San Jose Mercury News AVENTURA, FL (March 25, 2008) A consumer action column in the San Jose, CA Mercury News on March 25, 2008, is recommending that consumers should spend gift cards quickly. According to the column, written by Dennis Rockstroh, gift cards sold by stores, which are usually free of fees and expiration dates, could be at risk in the current economy, if the store goes bankrupt. Rockstroh cites the example of Sharper Image, which he says is headed for bankruptcy, which could make the value of the cards “iffy.” The article also says that, “Bank cards are loaded with fees and can expire.” Rockstroh warns consumers to check the fine print, since there may be rules and conditions that they will find objectionable. The article can be seen at: http://www.mercurynews.com/actionline/ ci_8688819?nclick_check=1 Stupid Card Tricks from page 23 R ® • • • • CONSULTING Stored Value Cards Prepaid Phone Cards VoIP- IXC & CLEC Projects MVNO & Wireless Projects COMPLIANCE • 499A & 499Q Filings • Bill Analysis & Disputes: USF, TRS, NANPA, LNP & FCC Charges • Payphone DAC: Compliance & Audits • Prepaid Phone Cards • Stored Value Cards • Telecom Taxes & Fees • VoIP Compliance attention. And, not good attention. Stories abound about cards that are purchased which lose some, or all, of their value before they are ever used. Or, how some poor child got a $50 card as a gift, and was only able to buy $25 worth of merchandise with the card the next day. Although ”free“ cards are starting to appear, most cards still charge from $10 to $50 to purchase the card. And, the charges don’t stop there; every time the card is used, or loaded with more value, a fee is charged. Some cards charge periodic maintenance fees that will rob the card of much, if not all, of its value before it is ever used. Now your old professor knows that what I just said will earn me a few messages of protest from card providers, explaining why these charges are necessary and appropriate, but the fact remains the public sees these charges as unfriendly to customers, and that is never a good thing. If open loop cards are to maintain a vigorous growth, they must overcome the bad press of card fees and charges. Finally, let’s look at prepaid calling cards. Since they were the original prepaid cards, they set the stage for a lot of what has happened with subsequent cards. Prepaid calling cards are a bit different than the open and closed loop cards we talked about telephone companies. Prepaid calling cards have a dollar value that they are loaded with when purchased. As the user makes calls, the cost of each call is deducted from the balance until all the value is used. As cellular phones increased in popularity, travelers gradually stopped using calling cards, and more prepaid calling cards were sold to immigrants or people who don’t have a telephone. This led to a tendency to exaggerate the number of minutes that cards can be used. Recently, government action and civil suits have brought this issue to the awareness of the public. Many of the calls were made to international destinations. Since many of these people make calls to one country, vendors began to differentiate their products by selling the maximum number minutes the card can be used to a particular destination. For example, ”35 minutes to Mexico on a $5 card.“ They then found all kinds of ways to reduce the number of minutes. For example, a monthly ”maintenance“ fee. This is a fee for just holding the card, and a $3 a month charge will take out $10 in 90 days. Then, there are payphone surcharges that are typically $1, or more, for every call made from a payphone. And, so on. You get the idea, chip away at the loaded value of the card without actually having to complete calls. This led to a tendency to exaggerate the number of minutes that cards can be used. Recently, government action and civil suits have brought this issue to the awareness of the public. As with open and closed loop cards, these Stupid Card Tricks make the consumer wary about buying the card. So, students, this should give you an idea of what Stupid Card Tricks are, and how they impact consumers. Not a pretty story, but the lesson is check the terms of the card carefully. See you next class! FCC 214 - $150 plus costs IXC & CLEC Certi cations Money Transfer Licenses Satellite & Wireless Licenses REGNUM GROUP, INC., MIAMI, FLORIDA T: .. ·F : .. E: @ . . . Flat Fee with order of IXC or CLEC License. (Non-dominant carriers only) If open loop cards are to maintain a vigorous growth, they must overcome the bad press of card fees and charges. before. Since they are for one product, telecom minutes, from one supplier, they are typically marketed in a different manner. By the way, your old professor does not agree with the way they are sold, but the industry has evolved into this mode of selling the cards, and it has had a significant impact, not good, on the industry. The original intent of prepaid calling cards was to meet the needs of those who did not have a home telephone . These cards were typically sold by resellers who bought services from the http://www.hannaford.com http://www.plsfinancial.com http://www.nacsonline.com http://www.mercurynews.com/actionline/ci_8688819?nclick_check=1 http://www.regnumgroup.com http://www.regnumgroup.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Prepaid Press - April 15, 2008

The Prepaid Press - April 15, 2008 Motorola to Split Mobile Payments: The Saga Continues Contents The Retske Report: Election Year and Woody Hayes Regulatory Rundown: 2008 First Quarter Mobile Update 5 Minutes with Mark Herrington tppEXPO’08 Spotlight New Handsets Announced at CTIA Prepaid Wireless in Brief Prepaid Wireless Roundup Virgin Mobile Reports Earnings of 6 Cents Movida Files Chapter 11 LiveWire Mobile Acquires Groove Mobile Boost Selects Vesta for Transactions RadioShack to Offer Trumpet Mobile Service Virgin Offers New Pay as You Go Plans Book Review: Webster’s New World Telecom Dictionary Management Changes at IDT Spot Rates Calling Cards in Brief The State of Prepaid Technology: Productive Coexistence FTC Asks Court to Halt Prepaid Calling Card Scam Louisiana Community Mulls Tax on Prepaid Cards Pactolus Wins VON Magazine Award iBasis Lowers Pakistan Rate for Pingo The Legal Line Biometric Update: Keep Your Shirt On AccountNow Ends Upfront Fees Evolution Benefits Acquires SmartFlex Payments in Brief NetSpend to Offer Bill Payment and Top-up Union Bank Introduces Contactless Card Ingenico Announces Development Kit Prepaid 101: Stupid Card Tricks PLS Offering Walk-In Bill Payment Spend Gift Cards ASAP Credit Card Breach at Hannaford Bros. NACS Withdraws Opposition to Tobacco Bill Study Finds Gift Card Packaging Increases Sales NACS Names International VP Inflatable Display Provides Inexpensive Signage Retail Focus in Brief Our Advertisers Contact Us

The Prepaid Press - April 15, 2008

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