Prepaid Cards

Prepaid specialist Green Dot Corp. released more details about its role in Apple Inc.’s upcoming person-to-person service in its Messages app.  Apple announced the new feature in June and is expected to make it available this fall with an update to its iOS software for iPhone and iPads. Pasadena, Calif.-based …

Overall, the forecast is strong for open-loop prepaid cards—loads are expected to reach $353.6 billion by 2020—but not every segment will partake in the growth. That’s the assessment in a new report from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Open-loop cards, which can be used at most merchants and carry a major …

Citing possible regulatory hurdles, payment processor First Data Corp. and commercial payments provider Fleetcor Technologies Inc. disclosed Thursday that they have canceled the planned joint venture they announced in March to consolidate their gift card businesses. “While both companies believe the proposed joint venture would provide significant benefits to customers …

Prepaid card provider Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. said its revenue for the second quarter ended June 17 totaled $463.1 million, an 18.4% increase from $391.2 million in the same period in 2016. The company’s loss of $6.4 million improved from the $11.3 million loss last year. Blackhawk said Target Corp. will be …

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a proposal adjusting certain provisions of its massive rule for prepaid accounts and asking for comment on whether the effective date for the rule should be delayed a second time. The proposed adjustments concern requirements for error resolution on unregistered accounts and wider flexibility for credit …

Gift cards issued by retailers are heating up, according to the latest research from Mercator Advisory Group. Total loads grew 6% in 2016 to reach $133.9 billion, Mercator’s Ben Jackson tells Digital Transactions News. That performance follows a decline in loads the year before. The research, which covers closed-loop gift …

Prepaid card program manager Green Dot Corp. reported higher purchase volumes and card numbers in the first quarter while merchant acquirer CardConnect Corp. posted a 23% increase in bank card dollar volume. Purchase volumes on Pasadena, Calif.-based Green Dot’s cards totaled $5.5 billion, up 17% from $4.71 billion in 2016’s …

Shares of payment card manufacturer CPI Card Group Inc. dropped almost 17% Thursday in the wake of slipping EMV chip card sales, falling revenues, and a net loss in the first quarter. The Littleton, Colo.-based firm said quarterly net sales declined 35% year-over-year to $56 million. Product net sales plunged …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau confirmed last week that it will extend the effective date of its planned rule governing prepaid accounts by six months, until Oct. 1, and indicated it would consider a further extension. The embattled bureau also said it would revisit “at least two substantive issues” in …

• USA Technologies Inc. announced it will work with point-of-sale terminal maker Ingenico to make Ingenico contact-EMV hardware available to providers of vending machines and other unattended terminals that use USAT’s network for contactless payments. • In related news, Mastercard Inc. said it is making its Masterpass digital wallet available for purchases …