Product category:
Smart cards
News Release from: Nomad | Subject: Prepaid cards
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 14 May 2007
Nomad helps Newcastle BS to pioneer
prepaid cards
Prepaid card processing specialist Nomad is celebrating its continued work with Newcastle Building Society offering prepaid cards to the UK and European marketplace.
Nomad, a leading supplier in the debit and prepaid card processing markets, and Newcastle Building Society, one of the strongest mutual building societies in the UK, have been working together since 2004 Two years ago they turned their attention to issuing prepaid cards
This article was originally published on Marketingservicestalk on 29 Aug 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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This initiative has created new opportunities for the Society, which smashed the million card barrier earlier this year having brought prepaid card programmes such as Bliss, Smash Hits, TalkSport, Magic FM, Max Power, Match, Extreme Cred, and Confetti to the UK market.
Acting as electronic money, the prepaid card market is already a billion dollar industry in the US with the UK tipped to follow the same trend.
Prepaid cards offer a number of applications ranging from a simple electronic gift to combating exclusion in our society by bringing the advantages of electronic payments to those people who don't already have a bank account.
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Thanks to regulatory changes governing the issuing of electronic money and the creation of the domestic Maestro scheme by MasterCard, UK and European organisations are now able to enter the prepaid market with confidence.
John Yeomans, CEO of Nomad, commented: "The success of prepaid cards in the US is widely recognised and the UK financial services industry is now following suit.
"However, before entering this market, organisations need to ensure that their model includes the necessary technological, financial and retail infrastructures to support the specific needs of their UK or European target market.
"We are proud to be working closely with the Newcastle to meet those needs and to help the Society play a significant role in changing the retail and financial landscape of the UK".
Keen to maintain its position as an innovator in the financial sector, the Newcastle recognised the advantages of being an early mover in the emerging prepaid market.
The company believes prepaid cards will continue to assist with wider marketing activities, introduce further prestigious third-party relationships, increase revenue and reduce operating costs.
The Newcastle has successfully outsourced the processing of its prepaid cards to Nomad, which offers a cost-effective and fast route to market.
Colin Greaves, General Manager, Newcastle Building Society, commented: "Having previously worked with Nomad on the debit card side of the business, we knew what the company was capable of and that it was well placed from technology, security and market knowledge perspectives to support our prepaid processing needs.
"We chose to operate the scheme across the MasterCard Maestro network as cards can be used in any existing Maestro outlet with the levels of security and fraud protection associated with the MasterCard brand".
"The fact that Nomad had been certified to the UK Domestic Maestro network for both magnetic stripe and Chip and PIN reinforced our decision to partner with the organisation".
John Bushby, General Manager, Northern Europe, MasterCard Europe, said: "Gift cards are a well-established and highly successful segment of the growing UK Prepaid market.
"Besides being a flexible and novel replacement for gift vouchers, gift cards have an important role to play in promoting customer loyalty.
"These prepaid gift cards offer consumers a secure and convenient means of giving a gift and they benefit retailers by heightening security and reducing the costs currently associated with handling large amounts of cash.".
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