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Tempo Payments Inc. today brought decoupled debit back into the spotlight when it announced a Web-based platform that enables organizations to offer affinity and co-branded debit cards to customers, contributors and members. Users also can access the Web-based platform to link the cards to a pre-existing checking account. "The logistics [of the program] involve what has come to be known as decoupled debit, but we've concluded there's no inherent value in decoupled debit itself," Mike Grossman, CEO of Tempo, tells CardLine sister publication ATM&Debit News. The value "is really in the ability to offer affinity and co-branded debit cards that benefit the organizations and cardholders," Grossman adds. The Breast Cancer Fund, Greenpeace and the Surfrider Foundation are the first organizations to offer affinity debits cards that will generate charitable donations from cardholder purchases. Grossman declined to reveal how much the organizations receive in charitable donations from cardholder purchases. First Bank & Trust of Brookings, S.D., issues the cards. Tempo processes the transactions. The rise in debit card use combined with the difficulty non-profit organizations have had raising money in a turbulent economy created an opportunity for Tempo to develop an affinity debit card program, Grossman says. Affinity credit card programs are often out of reach for small organizations because they require a high level of customization by bank issuers at a significant cost, Grossman says. "The software-service approach enables organizations [of all sizes] to launch their own affinity programs [at a lower cost]," Grossman says. Also standing in the way of some organizations' ability to raise money is the fact that affinity credit card programs are being cancelled as issuers streamline their portfolios, Grossman says. Tempo also is introducing an environmentally friendly aspect to the program as the cards will be made of PETG, a kind of plastic that is an alternative to PVC plastic used today in almost all payments cards.
