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Romania's state-owned postal service plans to issue MasterCard-branded prepaid cards in the second quarter, a spokesperson for United Kingdom-based Advanced Payment Solutions Ltd., the prepaid card services firm taking part in the effort, tells CardLine Global. Posta Romana initially will issue the contact chip cards to its employees before offering the cards in six branches in Bucharest in the second quarter. The postal service plans to issue cards from all its 7,000 branches, but no schedule was given. Posta Romana did not respond to requests for comment, and the UK spokesperson declined to say how many cards the two organizations expect to issue. Consumers can add value to the cards at postal branches, the spokesperson says. The scheme eventually will include other reloading outlets, the spokesperson says. Romania has about 21.5 million residents, a significant number of whom have no bank accounts or credit cards, the two organizations say. The UK spokesperson for Advanced Payment acknowledges that chip cards are a "new technology" in the country but said chip-and-PIN transactions, relatively common in such countries as the UK and France, are "expected to grow quickly" in Romania. After the postal service begins issuing the cards, the prepaid scheme might expand to include bill payments, the spokesperson adds.
