Travelex Group, a London-based distributor of foreign-currency reloadable prepaid cards that offer consumers a locked in foreign-exchange rate, has added a text-message alert service to notify cardholders when account funds drop below 100 pounds (US$149 or 117 euros).
The service is available to new Travelex Cash Passport cardholders through a partnership with Monitise PLC, a United Kingdom-based mobile-banking and payments provider. Travelex works with multiple financial institutions worldwide that issue the MasterCard-branded cards.
“[Cardholders] like to know what’s going on with their card, and text messages are one of the essential ways to do that, especially in the European market,” Mark Horgan, Travelex managing director of card and mobile payments, tells PaymentsSource.
The service is free, but standard text-messaging fees may apply, Horgan says. Users may enroll in the service when they register their mobile-phone number at the point of purchase.
Travelex plans to roll out other mobile services in the next 18 months, including the option to add funds to the card account and receive account balances via a text message. The company also plans to launch applications for Apple Inc.’s iPhone in the next three weeks, Horgan says, declining to describe the apps.
