Prepaid Cards

Prepaid wireless service is surging in the U.S in large part because of the efforts of so-called mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which re-sell airtime from the major wireless networks, experts said at an industry conference yesterday. Indeed, the prepaid wireless market in the U.S., counting both airtime and carriers' …

The number of Visa- and MasterCard-branded money-transfer cards issued in the U.S. will reach 1.1 million in 2006, up from 400,000 this year and just 145,000 in 2004, according to a new research study on the remittance market. The jump in the number of the prepaid cards follows the increasing …

North American Health Plans Inc., one of the country's largest third-party administrators of self-funded health-care plans, has begun using Visa- and MasterCard-branded debit cards from Evolution Benefits Inc., an Avon, Conn.-based processor. North American, Buffalo, N.Y., began Jan. 1 issuing Evolution Benefits' cards linked to flexible-spending accounts for its own …

Nashville, Tenn.-based independent sales organization iPayment Inc. expects on Friday to close on its $130 million cash acquisition of a merchant portfolio from First Data Corp. The portfolio consists of 25,000 small merchant accounts generating $9 billion to $10 billion in annual card volume. First Data Merchant Services will continue …

The expected surge in gift cards received this holiday season may cause a problem for online merchants that try to match billing addresses given by consumers at checkout with those on file with issuers before authorizing transactions, says ClearCommerce Corp. Online retailers will usually set their address-verification systems (AVS) to …

Evolution Benefits Inc. and 1-800 Contacts Inc. have reached an agreement under which the retailer of replacement contact lenses will accept Evolution Benefits' Benny debit card. The card, cobranded with MasterCard and Visa, will tap flexible-spending and health-reimbursement accounts set up by corporate employees, which the employees have funded with …

The popularity of gift cards continues to grow, with some 64% of U.S. adults, or a projected 139 million people, now buying or receiving the products annually, up from 59% last year and just 36% three years ago. That's according to the latest annual survey on gift card usage from …

Magex Ltd., a London-based e-commerce and person-to-person transaction processor, has acquired Open Payment Technologies Inc., a provider of stored-value card systems to restaurants, supermarkets, and other merchants. A price was not disclosed. Phoenix-based OPT will become a division of Magex, and Dave Ingwersen, OPT's president, is assuming the title of …

The rapid growth of the market for stored-value cards issued to employees in lieu of paychecks has prompted a wide array of consumer and labor groups to petition the Federal Reserve Board to extend to payroll cards the consumer protections of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act. In a letter sent …

UniRush Financial Services, a unit of UniRush LLC, New York, today announced an agreement with Milwaukee-based processor Metavante Corp. that allows holders of its prepaid Rush Visa card to use cash accounts linked to the card to make electronic bill payments. The service went live Friday, UniRush says, and is …