Visa Expects 25 Members to Begin Selling Its New Prepaid Travel Card

A number of financial institutions have agreed to sell Visa TravelMoney, a prepaid card that gives cardholders 24-hour access to dedicated travel funds.

Visa expects 25 institutions to be selling Visa TravelMoney by September. Among those that have agreed to do so are Citicorp, Credit Lyonnais, Interpayment Services, Barnett Banks Inc., Banco do Brasil, and Banco Santander.

Visa International announced the global rollout this month in Montreal. The product had been in a pilot testing stage for 18 months.

Customers can buy the card in any amount. When they do so, they can select a personal identification number which allows them to gain access to the funds in the local currency at Visa/Plus automated teller machines in 100 countries.

During the pilot tests, Visa said customers put an average of $1,250 on their TravelMoney cards - 100% more than originally forecast. The product is discarded when the money on it is spent.

Visa TravelMoney was piloted in Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Participating banks included First Bank System, Bank of Scotland, Confia, and Banco Mexicano. Visa said each institution would continue to sell the cards.

"The success of the pilot and our new issuing commitments from our members leads us to believe that Visa TravelMoney will quickly become a preferred prepaid cash access product with travelers worldwide," said Jack Levine, senior vice president at Visa International.

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