What Are Branded Prepaid Smartcards?

MAXXIUM’s Branded Prepaid Smartcards are rechargeable, stored value prepaid debit cards which enables the cardholder to make purchases at business establishments that accept either MasterCard or Visa. The cards are issued and backed by some of the world’s leading financial institutions and operate at ATM and POS utilizing the Maestro, Cirrus or Plus platforms.

The card is not a credit card since purchases are limited to the value of the card account at the time of purchase.

o How do they work?

• Account is PIN based and funds are accessible at ATM machines to obtain cash worldwide. May be used at point of sale with either Signature or PIN.
  
• Retailers accepting debit or credit cards accept these cards internationally and online. All funds are transmitted in a single bank day.
  
• Printed on the back of the card are the logos of the debit networks identities where the card may be used (Cirrus, Maestro, and Plus).
  
• The cards are easily recharged or reloaded via electronic transfers, worldwide network of loading stations, or the internet.

o Some examples of current usage in USA and elsewhere?

• The public transportation system and telephone systems in Paris, France use prepaid card payment systems in addition to cash payments. As a result, users can conduct transactions without having to carry change or and there has been a radical decrease in fraud in their system, as well as a decrease in the vandalism to the public phones.
  
• In Mexico, the Government uses smart cards for the public welfare system. By implementing smart cards, the Mexican Government has eliminated almost all occurrences of fraud. The success and lessons learned by the Mexican Government led to numerous other deployments of smart cards for benefit administration.
  
• A recent study showed that 97% of the more than 62 Million employees (in USA) presently using direct deposit are very satisfied with it. More 54% of US payrolls are currently paid by direct deposit. The US Treasury is the largest user of stored value card technology in North America.

o Who Can Provide Stored Value, debit cards?

• Almost any entity can issue these cards. Now, industry leaders, Corporations, Multi-Nationals, Banks, Pension Funds, Financial ,NGO’s , Insurance, major Charities, Universities, Government, Retail Chains, Telecoms, ISP’s may now issue their own branded prepaid smartcards as Branded Prepaid Smartcard Providers (BCSP). This unique opportunity allows the BPSP an opportunity to market its brand and also to enjoy an income stream from the lease of their own provider platform, and cards retail. These cards are acceptable worldwide wherever MasterCard, or Visa are accepted, and can also be programmed to do several things including uses as:
  
• Telephone cards, Customer loyalty and incentive programs, reducing accounting and administration costs, payroll, pensions, retirements, union dues, claims, unemployment, social security, welfare, medicare disability, tax, fund-raising, loyalty discounts, etc.