Card Briefs: Prepaid-Card Vendor's Deal Targets Banks

BLT Technologies Inc., a leading provider of prepaid phone cards, has struck a deal to market its cards with the TransAlliance electronic funds transfer network.

TransAlliance said it will offer the phone cards to financial institutions, which would typically sell them or offer them as perks or marketing enticements in branches. The ultimate goal is to make the service available through automated teller machines.

The cards, which BLT markets under the Talk 'n Toss and Talk 'n Talk brands, are available in increments of 10, 30, and 60 minutes. When the allotted time is used up, customers may dispose of the card or purchase additional minutes by using their debit or credit cards.

Market researchers are predicting a doubling in the U.S. prepaid phone card market this year, to $1.65 billion-still a small slice of the $60 billion long-distance market.