The Prepaid Press - October 15, 2008 - (Page 21)

PAYMENTS October 15 · 2008 - 21 Travelex Launches Budget Calculator New Tool Helps Travelers Plan for International Vacations LOUISVILLE, KY (September 8, 2008) The US Dollar fluctuates constantly and, recently, has grown stronger against many foreign currencies. But when planning for an international trip, how much foreign currency should travelers purchase? To help travelers with this, Travelex created its Budget Calculator to provide travelers with data on common day-to-day expenses and payment methods accepted in destinations worldwide. The Budget Calculator is free and available at www.cashpassport.com/us/. The Travelex Budget Calculator provides an easy-to-use guide to the cost of vacation basics in more than 50 popular destinations worldwide, from Cambodia and Chile to Iceland and India. The online budgeting tool lists the price of meals, drinks, accommodation as well as public transportation and attraction entrance fees. The Travelex Budget Calculator also provides advice on the recommended travel money mix between prepaid currency cards, US dollars, local currency and travelers’ cheques, as well as information on credit card acceptance and ATM access for each country. “The cost of traveling is continually changing. The strength of the dollar, the growth and prosperity of the destination, and our own cost of living mean that old information can lead you astray but the Travelex Budget Calculator arms travelers with a good idea of what vacation basics will cost,” said Christopher Russell Travelex’s executive vice president of outsourcing, Americas. “Our customers drove the demand for development of Cash Passport, a secure, convenient foreign currency card pre-loaded for use at millions of ATMs, shops and restaurants abroad and the Budget Calculator recommends the best mix of foreign currency and prepaid cards for the trip. It helps our travelers be better prepared.” Source: Travelex (www.travelex.com) Payments in Brief Cardtrend International Inc. (OTC BB:CDTR.OB) Cardtrend has completed the acquisition of 100% of SMS Biz Sdn. Bhd., an established provider of prepaid telecommunications services and products in Malaysia. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, SMSBIZ issues prepaid long distance calling and has a current sale volume of over US$100,000 per month and growing. Pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreement which was signed on January 21, 2008, the Company has issued 7 million restricted shares of Cardtrend Common stock to the vendors, of which, 4 million will be released to the vendors in accordance with a performancebased formula over a period of up to 5 years based as determined by pre-tax profits. Cardtrend International Inc. - www.cardtrend.com acquisition was a part of a core strategy to enhance Citi’s cash management platform for corporations, financial institutions and governments worldwide. Citi Prepaid Services - www.citiprepaid.com MPOWER Companies Join Clinton Global Initiative Pledge to Deliver Access to Financial Services to 5 Million Worldwide Worldwide, a global network of payment companies for underserved markets, and MPOWER Mobile, an international mobile payments company. With support from MPOWER Labs, an accelerator and incubator for MPOWER Ventures’ investment portfolio, these companies are creating a revolutionary platform and global network for integrated prepaid and mobile payments products. Capable of reaching previously inaccessible markets, these breakthrough products will bring underserved consumers around the world a broad range of financial services, including the ability to deposit and withdraw funds, transfer funds, make purchases and accept payments anywhere, anytime. The announcement took place at the CGI Annual Meeting 2008 in New York City as part of a broader commitment guided by the Clinton Global Initiative to direct resources and focus attention on improving access to financial services, a solution CGI views as key to alleviating poverty throughout the world. In a related announcement this week, MPOWER Ventures fulfilled its 2007 commitment to CGI with the launch of the Empowerment Lab at the Center for International Development at Harvard. The Empowerment Lab supports collaborative research between academics and the private sector to yield findings that accelerate the creation of innovative solutions for extending financial markets to the global poor. Source: MPOWER Ventures (www.mpowerventures.com) 1. European Commission, “Financial Services Provision and prevention of Financial Exclusion,” March 2008 (http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/spsi/docs/social_inclusion/2008/ financial_exclusion_study_en.pdf) 2. The World Bank, “Mexico: Country-Level Savings Assessment,” March 2006 (http://www.microfinancegateway.org/uploaded_files/mexico_assessment.pdf) 3. Africa Renewal, United Nations, “A bank in every African pocket? Mobile phones expand access to financial services,” Mary Kimani, January 2008, Vol. 21, No. 4 (http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/ afrec/vol21no4/214-cell-phone-banking.html) Hypercom Corporation (NYSE:HYC) has announced that its medCompact is the first healthcare terminal to receive e-Health BCS (Basic Command Set) approval from Gematik, the German healthcare organization. The device is available in significant volumes as part of the introduction of the country’s new health card. Germany’s e-Health card program is one of the largest IT projects worldwide with a planned deployment of more than 80 million electronic health insurance cards. With a large, high contrast display and embossed keys, Hypercom says its medCompact provides an intuitive and highly secure authentication system for patients and healthcare service providers. In addition to accepting patient cards, it accommodates up to eight different medical practitioner cards. Hypercom - www.medline.hypercom.com Metavante (NYSE:MV), a provider of banking and payments technology, and Community Bank Products (CBP) have completed CBP’s conversion to Metavante Corporation’s prepaid card processing services. Community Bank Products, a division of Tennessee-based FirstBank, supports network-branded prepaid card programs for more than 1,000 reseller community bank branches across the United States. Now directly aligned with Metavante for prepaid card processing, Community Bank Products has full access to Metavante’s prepaid development team — which it says will enhance its speed to market for new prepaid program development and enhancements. Metavante – www.metavante.com FirstBank - www.firstbankonline.com Ecount, a prepaid service provider, has changed its name to Citi Prepaid Services. This renaming comes as a final chapter in Ecount’s integration with Citi, which acquired the Conshohockenbased company in March 2007. Citi says the Altair Financial Services International Plc, a prepaid business solutions provider, will create a prepaid corporate card solution for Formula 3 newcomer, Litespeed F3. The Litespeed F3 prepaid corporate cards will provide the F3 team with MasterCard branded prepaid cards that can be used globally at over 27.3 million acceptance locations and used to access cash at over 1.9 million ATMs and other locations where cash may be obtained, wherever they see the MasterCard acceptance mark. The cards will be issued by a bank and will use the MasterCard network. Funds loaded by management are sent to a settlement account, which in turn are loaded onto the cards. Altair – www.altair-financial.com Litespeed – www.litespeedf3.com BUILD ENTERPRISE VALUE If you have distribution we have your white label platform! The iPayStation platform features: » Web-based POS portal » Verifone Terminals POS hardware is fully integrated with our state-of-the-art Back ofﬁce an ISO portal. » » » » Wireless & Phonecard PINs and Top-Up Service Express Bill Pay with 5000+ Local and National Billers Prepaid MasterCard - Sales and Loading Platform Low-Cost, Convenient International Money Transfer NEW YORK, NY (September 24, 2008) MPOWER Ventures, a socially committed venture fund that invests in financial services companies targeting underserved markets, has announced a five-year commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to deliver accessible, affordable and empowering financial services to at least 5 million consumers worldwide who do not currently have adequate access to financial products and services that meet their needs. A pattern of exclusion from access to financial services persists around the world and surfaces in developed and emerging economies alike. An estimated 2 billion consumers worldwide lack access to basic financial services, including nearly 50 percent of citizens in new EU member states,1 70 percent of the population in Mexico2 and places like Tanzania where bank account ownership rates dip as low as five percent.3 “This commitment keeps our mission in focus and the collective efforts of the MPOWER group of companies squarely aimed at the positive impact we seek to achieve by providing affordable and accessible financial services that promote the financial well being of our customers around the world,” said Roy Sosa, founding partner, MPOWER Ventures. “Innovations like prepaid debit cards have been a powerful solution for bringing unbanked consumers into the financial mainstream in the U.S. and Europe, and we must find innovative solutions that go beyond prepaid debit to reach the rest of the world’s consumers in even the most remote markets.” MPOWER Ventures plans to expand financial services markets to the underserved through investments in its portfolio companies Rêv For more information contact: Osvaldo Rodriguez at 800.432.7787 or visit www.ipaystation.com http://www.citiprepaid.com http://www.cashpassport.com/us/ http://www.cardtrend.com http://www.travelex.com http://www.metavante.com http://www.firstbankonline.com http://www.medline.hypercom.com http://www.altair-financial.com http://www.litespeedf3.com http://www.mpowerventures.com http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/spsi/docs/social_inclusion/2008/financial_exclusion_study_en.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/spsi/docs/social_inclusion/2008/financial_exclusion_study_en.pdf http://www.microfinancegateway.org/uploaded_files/mexico_assessment.pdf http://www.microfinancegateway.org/uploaded_files/mexico_assessment.pdf http://www.ipaystation.com http://www.ipaystation.com http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol21no4/214-cell-phone-banking.html http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol21no4/214-cell-phone-banking.html

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

The Prepaid Press - October 15, 2008 Oblio Wins Judgment Mobile Remittance Providers Look to Latin America Contents The Retske Report: The Game Changer Regulatory Rundown: New Rules and Requirements Likely for 2009 5 Minutes With Saul Bienenfeld, President of Pop2Call Prepaid Wireless Roundup MetroPCS Sues Virgin Mobile Wireless in Brief Leap’s Cricket Service Introduces Cricket PAYGo Virgin Mobile USA to Launch the Shuttle New Study Shows Mobile Phones Merging Roles TracFone Launches SafeLink Wireless in FL IVI and Titan Sign Agreement with YA Global Boost Mobile Launches New Phone The State of Prepaid Technology: Will the Coming Market Bring You Problems or Opportunities? Calling Cards in Brief The Legal Line Tata Awarded Cisco Powered Status IDT Fails to Meet NYSE Listing Standards BillSoft Offers New Taxation Service Dialogic to Acquire NMS Platforms Business STi Acquires Sprint’s Calling Card Business TelcoBridges Introduces ToolPack System Manager Hypercom Increases Multilane Team Mobile Banking: CGAP Spurs Market Prepaid Resources Introduces PORTABLES Bancorp and Obopay Introduce Payment Card Verities, Inc. Partners with BBB and i2c Inc. The Bancorp Bank Partners with LeagueSafe Donor Dialogue Partners with Springbok Services Mercator Offers New Merchant Report Travelex Launches Budget Calculator MPOWER Companies Join Clinton Global Initiative Payments in Brief Promotions Evolve into Must-Have Marketing Strategy for Prepaid Sector Access Launches Cash-Back Rewards VendTek Partners with United Bank Card Flash Foods, Tedeschi Partner with Pinnacle Prepaid 101: Basics of PINs Gasoline Cards to Benefit Armed Forces, Veterans i2c Inc. Signs Agreement with Diestel iPayStation Partners with Pronto Envios Sodexo Releases Prepaid Incentive Card Heartland Leverages VeriFone Managed Services Retail Focus in Brief Our Advertisers Contact Us

The Prepaid Press - October 15, 2008

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