PRESS CONTACT:
Mark Hall, ego:east, inc.
786-281-7007, markh@ego-east.com
THE PREPAID CARD EXPO ADDS FOUR NEW IN DEPTH WORKSHOPS, TOPICS INCLUDE EMERGING CARD TECHNOLOGY, MONEY LAUNDERING, PREPAID CARD PROCESSING, AND SERVICING THE LATINO MARKET
Conference Poised To Be Major Industry Event, Featuring Over 100 Industry Leading Speakers
Nashua, NH, November 17, 2005 – Prepaid Media, a leading provider of media and information services to the prepaid and stored value card industry, today announced that it has added four new in-depth workshops to the Prepaid Card Expo that will focus on: Emerging Card Technologies; Money Laundering and the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act; Prepaid Card Processing Technology; and Servicing the Latino Market. The Prepaid Card Expo, the first conference dedicated exclusively to the network branded prepaid card industry, will feature over 100 industry-leading speakers and experts on the use of prepaid cards in healthcare, government, unbanked/underserved, and corporate and consumer applications. The conference is poised to be a major industry event, with all sponsorship opportunities for the February 15-17, 2006 expo in Orlando, FL already sold out. Event sponsors include:
ADP®, American Express, Bryan Cave LLP, Carlson Marketing, Discover® Network, Edgar Dunn, Experian®, First Data®, FSV Payment Systems, Genpass, i2c inc., JPMorgan Chase, MasterCard® International, MBI Benefits, Meta Payment Systems, Metavante®, RBS Lynk, Springbox®, TranSend®, TSYS® Prepaid, and Visa®.
"
Prepaid cards for consumers are the fastest growing segment of the
prepaid industry, driven by demand for payment methods that combine
convenience, spending control, and safety and security," said
Valerie Soranno Keating, president of American Express Travelers Cheques
and Prepaid Services Group. "The Expo is a great venue to showcase
the industry's potential to address the unmet payment needs of consumers
and will provide insight into how to develop new prepaid products that
appeal to consumers, distributors, and issuers alike."
"
Today's employees are looking for choice when it comes to how they
are paid," said Gary Lott, General Manager of ADP's TotalPay and
InstantPay Cards. "As a company, we are committed to offering
our clients flexible payroll solutions that fit their organization's
needs and the diverse lifestyles of their employees. That's why we
are proud to be one of the sponsors of this conference which provides
an important platform for discussion around the types of offerings
that are available and their impact across various business functions."
“We are pleased to be a sponsor of the 2006 Prepaid Card Expo,” said Frank D’Angelo, president and chief operating officer, Metavante Corporation, Payment Solutions Group. “As a leader in the various prepaid market segments including gift, payroll, FSAs, and HSAs, expanding our role in the rapidly growing network-branded prepaid card industry is important to our long-term growth strategy.”
In addition to event sponsors, Prepaid Card Expo media sponsors include: ATM & Debit News, Benefits & Compensation Solutions, BusinessWire, CardLine, Cards & Payments, Card Technology, CardWeb.com, CDHC Solutions, Incentive Magazine, Intele-Card News, Nilson Report, Potentials, The Prepaid Press, Sales & Marketing Management, and Virtual Press Office.
Details of In-Depth Workshops
Emerging Card Technologies Workshop -- Just as prepaid is exploding on the payment scene, the underlying card technology is undergoing its own revolution. The magnetic stripe, ubiquitous since the early 1970s, may begin to see a decline. Many markets in the world have committed to replace magnetic stripe with EMV contact chip cards by the end of this decade. In the United States, we have seen substantial investments in contactless technology. This workshop will examine how these technologies work, and their application in the prepaid card industry.
Money Laundering and the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act -- Prepaid cards allow
funds to move quickly over great distances, disregarding country
borders, and often anonymously. This ease of use also offers new
opportunities to organized crime and international terrorists to
abuse these products. This workshop will discuss the potential risks
banks and others face from the misuse of such cards, along with how
to enhance their BSA/AML programs to address such risks.
Prepaid Card Processing Technology -- Prepaid card products vary considerably from traditional credit and debit cards in the technology required to support them and the nature of the underlying processor partnership. Understanding the prepaid card processing technology landscape and the competitive advantage offered by various processors remains a challenge. This workshop will focus on the role of processors beyond traditional processing, relevant considerations in selecting a processor, and factors in allocating roles and responsibilities between processors and others in the value chain.
Servicing the Latino Market -- Latinos executed over $600 billion in payments in 2004. While one of the fastest growing markets, it is also one of the least understood – particularly for many in the mainstream financial industry. While several financial institutions are moving rapidly to service this market, many Latinos eschew financial institutions and use third-parties for paycheck lending, check cashing and money remittances. This workshop will closely examine this multi-faceted market and discuss existing infrastructure available and steps the financial industry needs to take to service this growing market segment.
About Prepaid Media
Prepaid Media, a division of Prepaid Services Group, LLC, provides
a host of media services to the rapidly growing network branded prepaid
card industry, encompassing prepaid Visa®, MasterCard® International,
Discover® Network, American Express and EFT network branded cards.
Recognizing prepaid cards as a distinct category of products, Prepaid
Media focuses on the payments industry as well as the many specific
markets served by network branded prepaid cards including: unbanked,
underserved, and payroll; healthcare; consumer; and corporate and government.
. For more information on Prepaid Media and the 2006 Prepaid Card Expo,
www.prepaidcardexpo.com.
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