San Francisco, CA, September 3, 2009 - Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), the world's largest retail electronic payments network, announced today that it has partnered with United Bank Limited Pakistan (UBL) and local Pakistani government agencies to efficiently, securely and transparently distribute relief funds to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Northwest Pakistan.
The use of Visa-branded prepaid cards and the company's global electronic payment network helped to ensure that the aid was distributed quickly and accurately to the program's beneficiaries. It also reduced the cost of aid distribution for UBL and the Pakistani government.
The Pakistani program was initiated by NADRA, Pakistan's governmental identification agency, which tasked Visa with developing a system to distribute aid quickly and accurately, as well as support NADRA's efforts to authenticate identities of those IDPs in need of aid. As a result of the program, approximately 300,000 Visa-branded prepaid debit cards have been provided to IDPs in Pakistan to date. In total, an estimated 1.5 million IDPs are expected to benefit from the distribution of the aid cards.
UBL and Visa have also worked together to expand card acceptance in the Pakistan market, and will be installing approximately 450 mobile point-of-sale terminals in local merchant locations across the country, enabling IDPs to use their Visa prepaid cards for essential purchases - like food and medicine - at a greater number of merchants.
"We approached UBL and Visa to help with the major challenge of implementing a system where IDPs could feel part of our society, and to do so very quickly," said Ali Arshad Hakeem, NADRA Chairman. "From conception to first deployment, it took us only five days to get the project live. Visa's vast experience and global network made it the ideal partner to get funds into the hands of people who desperately need our help."
"Government agencies around the world are turning to electronic payments as a way to distribute critical support and aid, bringing their citizens greater access to funds that are more secure and reliable than cash, checks and other forms of paper payment," said Elizabeth Buse, global head of product, Visa Inc. "By distributing benefits funds electronically via Visa-branded products in Pakistan, the government is also achieving greater transparency, reducing costs, and increasing financial inclusion by linking participants to the banking system, often for the first time." Buse added, "In partnership with UBL, Visa is also proud to sponsor a financial literacy program for Pakistani relief recipients. The program is designed to educate recipients about electronic payments, laying the foundation to bring them fully into the financial system over time."
Visa works with government agencies around the world to move from paper-based distribution of electronic benefits to electronic means - like reloadable prepaid cards - for everything from child support, to unemployment benefits and worker's compensation, to emergency assistance and disaster relief. In 2009 in the U.S. alone, Visa had more than 65 benefit disbursement programs operating in 38 states, providing consumers - even those without traditional banking relationships - with a secure, cost-effective and convenient alternative to cash and checks to make everyday purchases, pay bills, and even receive deposits to their Visa prepaid card.
Kimberly L. Axelrod | Global Corporate Relations | Visa, Inc. | direct. 415.932.2131 | mobile. 415.298.7721 | kaxelrod@visa.com
