Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
JPMorgan Chase & Co., which this spring stopped selling Visa gift cards through its network of branches, has now quit the business entirely. The decision comes weeks ahead of the biggest selling season of the year for gift cards but doesn’t surprise some observers, who point to the challenges recent …
Read More »Prepaid Cards Become an Option for Buying Health Insurance Through New Exchanges
By Jim Daly Following a summer of uncertainty over whether millions of uninsured consumers would be unable to buy medical insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) because they didn’t have a checking account, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week issued a rule that requires …
Read More »Durbin Economics Begin to Impact Vibrant Market for Open-Loop, Big-Bank Gift Cards
By John Stewart n The inexorable economics of the Durbin Amendment are beginning to make themselves felt in the vibrant business of network-branded gift cards. n JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of a handful of major banks that offer Visa- and MasterCard-branded gift cards, this spring stopped selling its Visa …
Read More »USA Technologies Launches a Prepaid Loyalty Program for Vending Machines
Love your local vending machine and it’ll love you back. That’s the message from USA Technologies Inc. (USAT), operator of a wireless network of card-accepting vending machines. USAT this week unveiled a loyalty program called “More” centered around a proprietary, reloadable stored-value card that machine owners and operators can offer …
Read More »Green Dot Announces New Distribution, Marketing Deals for GoBank, Prepaid Cards
Fresh from the launch of its GoBank mobile-banking product, Green Dot Corp. on Tuesday announced new marketing and distribution deals not only for GoBank but also for its core prepaid card program. Green Dot cards will be sold through 20,000 more retail stores, including locations belonging to Dollar Tree, Dollar …
Read More »How a Brewing Fee Controversy Could Threaten Growth of Prepaid Payroll Cards
A controversy over paying lower-wage workers with payroll cards could threaten the growth of one of the fastest-expanding prepaid card markets, observers say. A lawsuit filed by a former McDonald’s Corp. restaurant worker in Pennsylvania who was paid via payroll card has attracted attention from federal authorities and triggered an …
Read More »As the CFPB Studies Overdrafts, Some Say Any New Rules Could Favor Debit Volume
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appears to be gearing up to put more controls on bank overdraft fees. The impact of any new overdraft rules on debit cards is unknown but there’s a chance they could prove positive for transaction volume, according to one industry researcher. The CFPB, a creation …
Read More »Green Dot To Take Over Walmart MoneyCard from Long-Time Issuer GE Capital
Prepaid card program manager Green Dot Corp. will take over direct issuance of the Walmart MoneyCard prepaid card from General Electric Co.’s GE Capital Retail Bank under a deal Green Dot announced on Monday. The acquisition continues Pasadena, Calif.-based Green Dot’s effort to consolidate issuance of the prepaid card …
Read More »FDIC Signals Increased Non-Bank Scrutiny with Action Against Prepaid Program Manager
In an action that appears to signal stepped-up scrutiny of non-bank prepaid card distributors by federal banking regulators, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday announced it is fining Achieve Financial Services LLP $110,000 and forcing it to pay at least $1.1 million in restitution to consumers. The FDIC also …
Read More »Court’s Critique Sparks NetSpend To Mull New Offers As Alternatives to TSYS Bid
Prepaid card program manager NetSpend Holdings Inc. on Wednesday said it will postpone until June 18 the shareholder meeting it planned for Friday to approve its $1.4 billion sale to processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS). The delay is an attempt in the wake of two shareholder lawsuits to create …
Read More »