LONDON, April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Altair Financial Services International Plc has accumulated orders for
more than a quarter of a million Prepaid Cards since it was certified as a
MasterCard(R) Service provider in October 2006 and is on track to reach a
million Prepaid Cards by May 2007.
Altair, having completed its acquisition of Symmetrex Inc, provides
unparalleled flexibility for designing, developing, delivering and processing
bespoke white label card solutions with enhanced functionality globally using
MasterCard(R) and Visa networks.
"The market for Prepaid Card programs is exceptionally buoyant at the
moment," says Lee Britton, Altair CEO. "Our clients identify that Altair
provide them with the most comprehensive Prepaid Card program development and
management service as well as providing an industry leading end-to-end
clearing and settlement processing solution. We have received a steady
recognition for our superior technology, outstanding service and continuous
innovation."
Altair provides branded Prepaid Card solutions that are applicable to an
ever increasing array of products and services within the retail and
corporate environment including: Money Share, Payroll, Generic Prepaid, Teen,
Travel, Lifestyle, Insurance, Virtual and Gift Cards. Altair's card
applications provide a host of options to meet clients' requirements. Cards
can be re-loadable or non-re-loadable, available by mail-order cards or
instant issue, issued for ATM, POS (Point of Sale) and/or Internet
transactions, personalised or non-personalised, etc.
"We have expanded in a controlled fashion in the USA and UK and we now
see explosive growth both in the number of cards issued as well as the number
countries we operate in," explained Lee Britton.
"Our product was not legacy based which gives Altair a huge advantage. We
grasped early on that we needed to understand the needs of our customers and
of our customers' customers. Only by understanding this can a technology
company such as ours design products to fit a variety of vertical markets."
Commenting on the advantages of prepaid cards, John Bushby, General
Manager, Northern Europe, MasterCard Europe, added: "Prepaid cards are simple
to purchase and easy to use and they offer a broad range of consumers,
including those currently unable to get debit or credit cards, the financial
freedom of using a payment card.
"Consumer demand is playing an important role in fuelling the expansion
in the market and we are delighted to be working in partnership with
specialist prepaid card providers and issuers as they develop their
products."
According to research commissioned by MasterCard(R) and conducted by PSE
Consulting, prepaid cards are expected to represent 5% of total card
transaction volumes and 3% of total card spending in Europe by 2010.
About Altair Financial Services International Plc Altair Financial
Services International Plc, was incorporated in 2005 as a global provider of
Prepaid Card solutions with enhanced functionality. The company is
headquartered in London with banking and processing affiliates in UK, USA,
Asia Pacific and throughout the Latin America and Caribbean regions and
issues on behalf of MasterCard(R) and Visa. Altair's solutions are designed
to be flexible enough to provide companies with almost any type of prepaid
card functionality, including open and closed loop programs. Through its
relationship with MasterCard(R) all Altair cards issued in Europe are based
on Chip & PIN technology and are EMV standards compliant.
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