Prepaid Financial Services Announces the Next Stage of Global Expansion with Launch in the US and Canada

LONDON, March 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

London based Prepaid Program Manager, Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), today announced the release of further programs and products as part of its expansion globally.

Mr Noel Moran, CEO of PFS commented, "PFS is pleased to announce a new partnership for the US and Canada. We now have two new partnerships in place that will allow us provide white label prepaid solutions into both of these countries. This will drive new opportunities and allow PFS to provide our US and Canadian clients with white label products."

The announcement of the new prepaid programs for the USA and Canadian markets follows on from PFS already having programs live in the UK, France, Romania and the imminent launch of programs in Slovenia and in Africa.

Mr Moran stated, "We expect to launch similar products to those that we have created in other markets and we intend to capitalise on our experience of providing multi-currency cards for business and personal travel, instant issue products, expense cards, remittance cards, contactless NFC solutions, virtual cards and many other innovative solutions."

PFS's expansion into countries like Botswana and India is part of the company's strategic plan to be a global provider of programs for banks, processors and clients.  By utilising the PFS middleware, clients can take advantage of the industry leading technology, specifically tailored for the prepaid market.  The PFS solution is both scalable and adaptable, and can be integrated into most existing issuing processor platforms. PFS are currently integrated to five major prepaid payment processors.

Mr Moran further stated, "a number of banks and processors want to expand into prepaid but are hampered by the need to adapt or enhance old legacy processing platforms hence they look to interface with a new processing engine.  The PFS solution removes this barrier to entry and provides clients with unparalleled flexibility in terms of providers they wish to partner with.  The PFS middleware binds together the various external parties needed to launch a prepaid program by way of a series of seamless interfaces. The PFS Middleware runs the program management, rules, controls, fraud settings, reporting and reconciliation functions, amongst other things, enabling any existing processor or bank to enter the market."

Mr Moran went on to say, "We expect to launch further programs across Africa and the Asia Pacific region in 2012 and are working closely with partner groups in various other territories. If, as we expect, prepaid growth follows a similar trajectory as it has in more established markets, it will move towards being a mainstream product, servicing corporate clients as well as government bodies and consumers.  

"We are particularly strong in the mobile/prepaid money remittance arena and we see the card to card transfer capability, by SMS, mobile handset, I-phone, IVR and Internet as being key. The card itself does not have to exist as a physical piece of plastic, we already provide virtual cards and we see the expansion of the m-wallet and NFC as being important in 2012 and onwards. Our experience in terms of having launched contactless stickers for scheme payments as well as physical and virtual cards, combined with our geographic experience is unique in the prepaid sector.  We believe the next evolution of prepaid in the global market will be built in conjunction with the telecommunication industry and the sheer mass of mobile technology in the market. The number of customers with mobile phones will drive the peer to peer payments sector to a new level. Instead of a proliferation of credit cards and physical plastic, we believe that there will be one payment wallet which manages all of the account holder's payment options. It is possible that this m-wallet will then be able to transact with retailers by way of NFC or generation of a virtual card for example to complete a transaction at a merchant terminal.  

"Conversely the m-wallet would be able to move value to any other m-wallet holder or mobile phone account holder. In a way, it becomes one account to manage many accounts, drawing down value from multiple sources to then make a payment or transfer. PFS is well placed to partner with existing and new companies in the prepaid space, wherever they are located. Country location, continent or market sector is not a barrier."

Clients seeking to issue cards or launch white label solutions should contact PFS directly at info@prepaidfinancialservices.com

Clients seeking to issue cards in the USA or Canada should contact us directly at info@prepaidfinancialservices.com

Web - http://www.prepaidfinancialservices.com

Telephone - +44(0)207-534-8062

Prepaid Financial Services Ltd,
Debello House,
14-18 Heddon Street,
London,
W1B 4DA.