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Atlanta-based InComm, a major provider of plastic gift card programs, will be gaining a bigger presence in the growing digital card market through its acquisition announced on Wednesday of Portland, Ore.-based Giftango Corp. Although both companies are involved in managing plastic and digital gift card programs for retailers, InComm had …
Read More »By Launching a Branded Cash-Funding Product, PayPal Turns up Heat on Banks
PayPal Inc. on Thursday took a step closer to providing bank-like account access with its introduction of a branded prepaid card that can be used to fund PayPal accounts. The PayPal My Cash Card, which is the first PayPal-branded prepaid card in the 14-year-old company’s history, allows consumers who lack …
Read More »Square Steps in to a Small But Thriving Digital Gift Card Niche
Square Inc.’s announcement over the weekend that it is making digital gift cards available for its base of mostly small merchants heralded the San Francisco startup’s entry into what is turning into a hot market, particularly with the onset of the holiday-shopping season. Square, which in recent months revamped its …
Read More »After Prolonged Development, A Startup Begins to Vend Prepaid Cards from ATMs
After five years of development, an ATM technology company with its eyes on the prepaid card market says its business model of selling prepaid cards through ATMs is ready for prime time. As evidence, Better ATM Services Inc. on Tuesday announced it would enable the sale of a Discover-branded gift …
Read More »With FSV Under Its Wing, U.S. Bank Poised To Become a Full-Service Prepaid Card Provider
Already a major player in the prepaid card industry, U.S. Bancorp on Tuesday announced plans to bolster that part of its payment card business by acquiring FSV Payment Services, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based prepaid card program manager and processor. Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank issues prepaid cards for more than 4 million account …
Read More »Looming Holiday Season Promises Hefty Lift in Closed-Loop Prepaid Loads, Report Says
Closed-loop gift cards can expect to see an increase of more than 5% in holiday load volume over 2011’s loads, according to a new forecast from Mercator Advisory Group Inc., which researches the prepaid card industry. Mercator predicts loads on closed-loop gift cards will hit $43.2 billion from Nov. 1 …
Read More »As Deadline Looms, Treasury Launches PR Campaign to Push Electronic Benefits
With a crucial deadline just five months away, the U.S. Department of the Treasury is blanketing the country this month with press releases urging recipients of Social Security and other benefits by check to adopt electronic payment. In the campaign, which started last week, the agency is sending out releases …
Read More »AmEx And Wal-Mart Pursue the ‘Unhappily Banked’ with Their New Bluebird Prepaid Card
In a play for the business of what an American Express Co. executive calls “the unhappily banked,” AmEx and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Monday introduced their Bluebird prepaid card for U.S. customers of the world’s largest retailer. The card not only expands the consumer markets that AmEx, normally associated with …
Read More »Startup Marqeta Issues Prepaid Cards That Come Partially Loaded by Merchants
A 2-year-old startup that allows consumers to use prepaid cards augmented with funds from participating merchants is expected to launch its product commercially next week following a nearly nine-month pilot in the Bay area. Emeryville, Calif.-based Marqeta Inc., which has already signed up about 250 merchants, is banking on the …
Read More »With Double-Digit Growth, Prepaid Closes in on Half-Trillion Mark in Load Value
The prepaid card market closed in on half-a-trillion dollars in load volume last year, new data from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. show. Volumes on closed-loop cards grew 14% and loads on the newer open-loop cards increased 24%, according to Mercator’s ninth annual study of U.S. prepaid cards. In all, Maynard, …
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