The Prepaid Press - February 2009 - (Page 22)

PAYMENTS & PROCESSING February 15 · 2009 - 22 TransCard, Socialwise Plan to Revolutionize Prepaid Congresswoman Introduces Financial Literacy Act To Offer Socialwise-branded Prepaid Debit Card CHATTANOOGA, TN (January 27, 2009) TransCard, a provider of prepaid debit card solutions branded with MasterCard, Discover Network and STAR associations -and San Diego-based Socialwise, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ideaEDGE, Inc., (IDEA.OB) are collaborating to offer a prepaid debit card for online gift giving to be released in early 2009. TransCard has developed a turnkey card program for Socialwise, complete with platform integration with their internal systems. Along with using TransCard’s technology to perform backend functions, Socialwise and TransCard will offer a Socialwise-branded prepaid debit card. “It isn’t often that a product or a company comes along with the potential to transform one industry, much less multiple industries,” says Craig Fuller, CEO of TransCard. “Socialwise intends to impact social networking sites, group gifting, how teens spend money online and, of course, the very concept of prepaid. The TransCard-backed Socialwise card provides greater security for online purchases and is perfect for younger demographics because it is not a credit card. All funds are loaded upfront with no opportunity to overspend or negatively affect the user’s or their parents’ credit. Just as the Internet modernized how we communicate, the Socialwise prepaid card seeks to modernize how we spend money online-as well as outside of the virtual world. This card can go with your kids on field trips, travels abroad and to college. There is no better way to teach kids monetary responsibility, while protecting their financial futures.” Socialwise says it is changing the face of the gift-giving industry with online applications such as BillMyParents, which allows parents to safeguard their children’s purchases, and Gimme!, a way to organize group gifting through donating to select gift cards. With the innovative Socialwise Group Gifting Platform, multiple people can contribute to online purchases. “When we were looking at prepaid partners, TransCard was the one that stood out as being the most innovative and ahead of the curve,” says Jim Collas, CEO at Socialwise. “We needed a company that shared our vision and spirit of ingenuity, as well as one that has technology sophisticated and flexible enough to actually bring our vision to fruition. Now, we believe both of our companies are poised to usher in a new age of prepaid for a new generation of consumers.” Source: Socialwise (www.ideaedge.com) TransCard (www.transcard.com) Legislation to Encourage Financial Education programs. It provides for small businesses and corporations that offer free financial education to receive preferential treatment for government contracts, and for those small businesses to receive tax breaks. “Our economy is in a recession, and every day, Americans make financial missteps due to their lack of financial knowledge,” Congresswoman Johnson said. “We must begin to see financial literacy as a necessity, and I hope to make financial education more accessible with the National Financial Literacy Act.” Under the bill, qualified community-based financial literacy programs would include the topics of saving for retirement, managing credit, long-term care, estate planning, predatory lending, identity theft and financial abuse schemes. In the 110th Congress, Congresswoman Johnson introduced the National Financial Literacy Act of 2007 and the Employers Financial Literacy Act. The National Financial Literacy Act of 2009 incorporates both. Source: Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (www.house.gov/ebjohnson) WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 28, 2009) Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has introduced the National Financial Literacy Act of 2009, which will provide incentives to financial institutions, small businesses and corporations to provide financial education to their customers and employees. Original co-sponsors of the bill include Representatives Steve Cohen, Elijah Cummings, Bob Filner, Phil Hare and Jim McGovern. The National Financial Literacy Act of 2009 amends the Community Reinvestment Act to allow banking institutions to receive credit for offering community-based financial literacy Robert Dotson, President and Chief Executive Ofﬁcer, T-Mobile USA Industry Analysis on Mobile Banking Available The MMA Addresses Mobile Opportunities NEW YORK & LONDON & SINGAPORE & SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (January 29, 2009) The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has published its Mobile Banking Overview; an educational resource designed to provide analysis of the unique marketing opportunities and attributes that the mobile channel represents for the financial sector. Key subjects include market size, consumer-focused mobile banking products and services, and the mobile media channels available to banks and other financial institutions. It also provides considerations for optimizing mobile banking communications and campaign effectiveness within each channel. “As mobile commerce becomes more secure, we will see a paradigm shift in the way people do their banking,” said Sean Moshir, CEO of CellTrust and Mobile Banking Sub-Committee Co-Chair at the MMA. “We believe that mobile banking will parallel the Internet era in many aspects, leading consumers and financial institutions alike to become more comfortable with mobile transactions. The Mobile Banking Sub-Committee is pleased to present the Mobile Banking Overview as a key milestone in the evolution of mobile commerce.” The overview is the result of ongoing member collaboration with the MMA North America Mobile Banking Sub-Committee of the MMA Global Mobile Commerce Committee. The Mobile Banking Overview includes participation from the following MMA Mobile Banking subCommittee member companies: Acuity Mobile, AT&T Mobility, CellTrust Corporation, Fidelity Investments, Silverback Media, Sprint, VeriSign, Inc., Verizon Wireless, Virgin Mobile, USA and Washington State Employees Credit Union. “The improved user experience across handsets and networks and better browsing capabilities associated with the mobile web have resulted in significant growth in the mobile banking market over the past several years,” said new MMA President and CEO Mike Wehrs. “Many financial institutions already offer some form of mobile services for their customers, and the MMA is seeing mobile usage rise for personal banking. The Mobile Banking Overview is an important step towards the formulation of guidelines around the service, and a great addition to existing MMA educational resources.” Source: The MMA Mobile Banking Overview (www.mmaglobal.com/mbankingoverview.pdf) What does “mobile life” mean to you? What is your primary business goal for 2009? How does attending CTIA WIRELESS 2009 help you meet that goal? March 31, 2009 April 1-3, 2009 Las Vegas Convention Center www.ctiashow.com † Exhibit Floor, Keynotes, Sessions & Partner Conferences Las Vegas, NV, USA h Partner Seminars http://www.ideaedge.com http://www.transcard.com http://www.house.gov/ebjohnson http://www.ctiashow.com http://www.ctiashow.com http://www.mmaglobal.com/mbankingoverview.pdf

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Prepaid Press - February 2009

Payments & Processing: Prepaid Debit Card Trends Contents The Retske Report: A Courthouse Divided Regulatory Rundown Prepaid Business: 5 Minutes With Darren Dat Lu, CEO of Lunex Group Prepaid Telecom: International Mobile Top-Up Virgin Mobile USA Compliance Plan Accepted by NYSE Tata Communications Launches One IP World KIT Communications Selects PhoenixSoft Sprint Nextel Increases Payments to Virgin Mobile Motorola, Sprint and Boost Mobile Welcome iDEN Flip PhoenixSoft Announces New Program Virgin Mobile Partners with Susan G. Komen The State of Prepaid Technology: Prepaid Virtual Operators Emerge Prepaid Wireless Roundup Boost Launches ‘Monthly Unlimited’ in More Cities Cricket Selects Callidus On-Demand Solution ICC Worldwide Expands Prepaid Products IPsmarx Launches SIP Based Card Platform The Legal Line Prepaid Telecom in Brief Pinnacle Rolls Out Ingenico’s Payment Terminals TransCard Makes Staff Announcements H&R Block Bank Selects MasterCard Avangate Pays Vendors and Affiliates with Prepaid MC TIO Networks Announces Grant of Stock Options TSYS Offers Enhanced Loyalty Solution First American Payment Systems Inks Deal with RDM Hypercom Introduces HyperSafe Remote Key System i2c Expands Team iPayStation Integrates with Movistar Payments & Processing in Brief New Javelin Report on Evolving Prepaid Card Market TransCard, Socialwise Plan to Revolutionize Prepaid Congresswoman Introduces Financial Literacy Act Industry Analysis on Mobile Banking Available Gift Cards & Promotions: Seven Cost-Conscious Marketing Strategies for 2009 Ntreev USA Announces PvP Tournament hhgregg to Help Circuit City Customers NRF Releases December Industry Sales Cellfire Expands Kroger Mobile Coupon Program Petrofix.com Offers a New Fuel Solution Gift Cards & Promotions in Brief Our Advertisers Contact Us

The Prepaid Press - February 2009

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