Prepaid Marketing for Online Success

Wins Best Payroll Prepaid Card Category

The Freedom Eagle Prepaid MasterCard® powered by White Eagle (Europe) Plc has won the Best Payroll Prepaid Card category at the 2011 Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Awards. This is the third year in a row that White Eagle prepaid card products have made a splash at the annual Prepaid365 Awards underlining the contribution that White Eagle have made to the UK prepaid card industry.

The annual Prepaid365 awards recognise best in class prepaid propositions and providers voted for by consumers and Prepaid365’s subject matter experts 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 Read the rest of this entry »

BaBeeCard, the prepaid card designed especially for mums, mums to be and families was celebrating a hattrick of wins at the 2011 Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Awards, after winning the “Best Online Shopping Prepaid Card” and “Best Prepaid Card Design” categories as well as scooping up the runners up gong for the “Best Gifting Prepaid Card”.

The annual Prepaid365 awards recognise best in class prepaid card propositions and providers voted for by consumers and Prepaid365’s subject matter experts 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. Read the rest of this entry »

Wins for Prepaid Financial Services and programmes managed by Prepaid Financial Services including the PCS MasterCard and Camden C-OOL Youth Prepaid Card

• Winners of the Best B2B Provider – Small Programmes
• Recognition in the Best Prepaid Card Innovation for South African Rand Travel Card

Widely recognised as one of the most innovative prepaid service providers PFS provide a wide range of solutions including B2B products, travel products, corporate expenses, payroll, commission payouts and social and benefit payments.

Noel Moran, CEO of Prepaid Financial Services Ltd expressed his delight with the results commenting, “We are delighted to have been recognised with these two awards. We are particularly proud that we have been recognised in two fields which have been our key focus from day one. Since its inception PFS has strived to offer corporate clients flexible low cost entry into the prepaid market. Our purpose built prepaid software platform is constantly tailored to improve our offering and meet the requirements of our clients. Read the rest of this entry »

Winner of the Best International Prepaid Card

The team at PCS rounded off an impressive few months with recognition at the 2011 Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Awards by winning the Best International Prepaid Card category. The first of its kind in France the product has received widespread media coverage and consumer interest since its inception.

The PCS prepaid MasterCard launched in December 2010 has been developed specifically for the unbanked and underbanked demographic however the demand for the product would indicate that online shoppers, young people and frequent travellers have quickly come to recognise the benefits of this card. The card is currently available for purchase in 20,000 merchants throughout France. Read the rest of this entry »

Leading prepaid Mastercard, the Escape Travel Money Card, has been billed as offering the ‘Best Prepaid Card Website’ according to Prepaid365, the UK’s leading independent prepaid card comparison website. www.escapetravelmoneycard.com scooped the top spot in the prestigious awards, the first major award for the eight-month old website of the Escape Travel Money Card business, part of the EZPay Ltd company.

The third annual Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Awards 2011 assess the cards, websites and supporting services of over 200 different prepaid cards across 22 award categories. The Prepaid365 Awards are voted for directly by consumers and the results are based on consumer votes, reviews and industry feedback, with the top performers winning the highest accolades.

Featuring clear tools to aid consumers in choosing the best value holiday spending money option, www.escapetravelmoneycard.com was praised for its total transparency in listing costs of acquiring a card. The website for the Escape Travel Money Card also carries an informative blog, daily-updated foreign exchange rates, and a clear log-in area for cardholders where they can monitor their account. Read the rest of this entry »

Wins Runner Up Gong in Best Youth Prepaid Card Category

The Camden COO-L Prepaid Card, a unique product launched by Camden Council to promote young people’s activities, was celebrating recognition at the 2011 Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Awards by scooping the Runners Up award in the Best Youth Prepaid Card category.

The Camden COO-L Prepaid card offers young people an opportunity to spend their money on positive activities in and around Camden. Aimed at young people who are eligible for free school meals in school years 9-11, young people looked after and who have learning disabilities and difficulties.

The card is loaded with 25 pounds Sterling per month which can then be used by the cardholders to participate in fun and positive activities in their local area. Cardholders do not have access to withdraw these funds at ATMs. Instead they are restricted for use at specific merchants and service providers in the Camden area, including music lessons, theatre productions, museums and cinemas. Read the rest of this entry »

• Wins ‘Best travel prepaid card’ at 2011 Prepaid365 Card Awards

The Caxton FX Prepaid Currency Card, one of the UK’s most popular prepaid travel cards, has been announced as the winner in the Best Travel Prepaid Card category at the 2011 Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Awards. This is the third year in a row (2009, 2010, 2011) that consumers have voted for the Caxton FX Prepaid Currency Card as their first choice of prepaid travel card.

Launched in 2007, the Caxton FX prepaid currency card was the first to make launch a free prepaid currency card, and the first to abolish ATM fees abroad.

Andrew Swailes, Head of Communications, Caxton FX: “The Caxton FX card was the first of its kind, and ever since then we have strived to continue to offer a unique product in what is now an immensely competitive field. I am delighted that Caxton FX has been recognised as the market leader. We have always tried to put the customer first and make their life as easy as possible – since the day we started the greatest percentage of card sign-ups has come through clients recommending our card.” Read the rest of this entry »

PCT are delighted to have won the award for Best B2B provider of large programmes 2011, from the respected Prepaid365 Prepaid card awards.

Ian Clowes, Managing Director of PCT commented that “the award recognises the amazing efforts of our highly knowledgeable and dedicated team who help to turn clients’ often complex visions into successful prepaid solutions.  Award wins such as this reinforce the premise that we are providing our clients with expert programme management from concept to delivery.”

Since its inception, PCT have built a reputation for the launch and management of robust prepaid card programmes.   For example, FairFX , one of PCT’s first clients, today offer one of the most successful travel cards available.  Other partners have quickly followed suit, with the first quarter of 2011 already seeing the launch of five new card schemes. Read the rest of this entry »

Optimal Payments Plc (LSE: OPAY), the leading alternative payments business, announces that its Net+ Prepaid MasterCard® has won three categories at the Prepaid365 awards, including Best Prepaid Card Overall.

Amit Sharma, CEO of prepaid marketing consultancy Emotion Associates and founder of Prepaid365 said: “The prepaid industry continues to grow at a rapid pace with close to 100 new programmes launching over the last 12 months. Each year, there tend to be one or two prepaid cards which simply stand out above the rest, and the NETELLER Net+ Prepaid Mastercard is undoubtedly one of the stand out performers of 2010-11 with a ringing endorsement in six categories from those who matter most – consumers. The title best in class is definitely apt in this case and is just reward for an exceptional year for the team at Optimal Payments.” Read the rest of this entry »

Wins Best Unbanked Prepaid Card and Runner Up Best Basic Bank Account with Prepaid

The Secure Trust Bank Prepaid MasterCard has been rewarded for its added value prepaid proposition with wins at the 2011 Prepaid365 Prepaid Card Awards with consumers votes securing a win in the Best Unbanked Prepaid Card category to go with the runners up award in the Best Basic Bank account category.

The Secure Trust Bank prepaid MasterCard was only launched in late 2010 and has already established a large customer base. The product provides an excellent alternative to those who are unbanked, have a poor credit history, are seeking a credit card alternative or have simply lost their faith in traditional banking.

The Secure Trust Bank Prepaid MasterCard offers consumers the ability to set up direct debits and standing order instructions and customers are automatically enrolled into the Secure Trust Bank Rewards Scheme which enables them to earn cash rewards of up to 4% at over 30 major high street retailers when they shop with their prepaid card. Furthermore, the pre paid card is MasterCard branded and can be used anywhere the MasterCard acceptance logo is displayed – online, in-store and at over 30 million retail locations worldwide in addition to 1.5 global ATM’s for cash withdrawals

Amit Sharma, CEO and founder of leading prepaid comparison site Prepaid365 stated that “this is an excellent win for the team at Secure Trust Bank. Providers like Secure Trust are putting the faith back in banking and providing consumers with a viable alternative to traditional banking structures. Prepaid card adoption as a mainstream payments solution has suffered due to the inability to set up direct debits and standing order instructions but the Secure Trust Bank prepaid card allows consumers to do this and is a real basic bank account – so much more than just a prepaid card.”

The Secure Trust Bank Prepaid MasterCard represents a real credit card alternative and there are no credit checks necessary which means guaranteed acceptance subject to identity & residency checks

Source: http://www.prepaid365.com

Orange Cash Contactless Prepaid Card Launched by Orange

Orange has announced the launch of Orange Cash, the UK’s first major contactless prepaid MasterCard card.  Allowing customers to take total control of their spending, the prepaid card is a secure alternative to carrying around cash and can be used in over 30 million locations that accept MasterCard within the UK and abroad, as well as online. The announcement follows the launch of the Orange contactless credit card in 2009 and this year’s roll out of a commercial contactless mobile payments service on Orange.

Highlights

• New, easy-to-use contactless Orange Cash prepaid MasterCard^® allows customers to make faster payments on the high street
• Orange Cash customers earn reward points as they spend, redeemable against a great range of rewards including Pay As You Go Orange texts, airtime, credit or Orange shop vouchers
• MasterCard PayPass™ Contactless card technology enables customers to quickly make purchases of £15 or under wherever the contactless symbol is displayed Read the rest of this entry »

Scenario: So an unsuspecting mother uses her Barclays debit card to buy her 11 year old son an Xbox Live membership and then receives a “nasty shock” upon discovering that aforementioned 11 year old spent over £1000 buying virtual goods over a 6 month period.

Cue: Mother decides the fault probably lies with Barclays and Microsoft Xbox as opposed to self and boy and they should be liable in some way and hence, will be contacting a solicitor.

Source: My son racked up £1k bill on Xbox

Analysis: After the cursory chuckle (which could last a few hours), it would be interesting to see if they actually get some financial relief as I would definitely be willing to go down the same route. There have been recent instances about consumers complaining about in game purchases with iTunes Apps where someone has purchased a kiddie game and not realised that in game purchases would not require a password if they had entered their password in the last 15 minutes for any reason whatsoever. Perfect scenario for the control features of youth prepaid credit cards perhaps? Read the rest of this entry »