EMerchants Ltd. on May 20 won a three-year contract to provide prepaid cards for Telechoice, the largest dealer for mobile operator Optus Ltd. in Australia.
The deal, revealed in a May 22 exchange filing from eMerchants parent Australasia Consolidated, calls for eMerchants to issue more than 350,000 prepaid cards during the first year support Optus’ Incard 24/7 program.
The deal will enable Optus customers to use eMerchants-issued prepaid cards to recharge their prepaid mobile phones with a text message to a designated number. Holders of the cards also may use them to pay taxi fares in certain cities.
Australasia Consolidated acquired eMerchants on May 17 for approximately AU$28 million (US$30 million or 21 million euros). The Perth-based investment company intends to raise a minimum of AU$10 million through stock options to new and existing shareholders to fund the transaction, according to a filing it made earlier with the Australian Stock Exchange (
The firm also intends to use the funds to develop eMerchants’ sales and marketing operations to expand the business, according to the filing.
With a 28% market share, Brisbane-based eMerchants is Australia’s largest provider of prepaid cards, including reloadable cards and single-store gift cards, according to market research firm Euromonitor International.
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