IMGCAP(1)]
United Kingdom-based Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank plans to roll out a prepaid card that takes advantage of changes in British housing subsidies, an Alliance spokesperson tells CardLine Global. The scheme enables cardholders to have housing-assistance payments from local governments in the UK loaded onto prepaid cards, which recipients can use to withdraw cash from ATMs and bank branches. Before April, when the rules were changed, local governments sent such payments to landlords, not tenants. The chip-and-PIN card works just like other Visa debit cards, the bank says. The bank already has launched "some pilots" for the card, the spokesperson says, though he declines to say where or how many cards the bank hopes to issue. Tenants receiving the housing benefits often use them to pay a portion of their rent and cover the remainder with their own funds, the spokesperson says.
