Central National Bank of Enid in Oklahoma said it is issuing a reloadable prepaid debit card and remittance product aimed at Brazilian immigrants.
The Tal Card offers an alternative to "paying exorbitant fees to check cashiers and money transfer companies" to send money home, said the unit of Central Services Corp., also in Enid.
Brud Baker, the $525 million-asset bank's president and chief executive, said in a press release issued Tuesday that Tal Card customers can send money to Brazil and 11 other Latin American countries for $6. (According to a January report by the Washington nonprofit Appleseed, "in 2005, the average total cost of a remittance transaction to Latin America was 5.6% of a $200 transaction.")
The cards are sold through agents such as Brazil Box Courier Corp., which has offices in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, California, and Georgia. A PIN-only card is instantly issued, and a personalized MasterCard is provided later.
A Tal Card can be reloaded by automated clearing house direct deposit, through Green Dot Corp.'s network, and at certain banks.
Interactive Transaction Services, a unit of Central National, processes transactions on the card. The bank also issues 11 university identification cards that function as debit cards, including one for Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania.
