Prepaid cards

The Treasury Department has designated Fifth Third as the financial agent for its Direct Express prepaid card program. The decision marks a reversal from late last year, when BNY reached a five-year agreement with Treasury.

The prepaid card firm and banking-as-a-service provider extended its contract with its largest BaaS client in Q2 despite a July consent order from the Federal Reserve.

The payment option has grown beyond underbanked consumers. For issuers, a $1 trillion market is at stake.

Roy and Bertrand Sosa have retaken control of Netspend to combine it with their other firm, Rev Worldwide, to build the companies into an international financial services provider.

Bank-issued prepaid benefits cards were supposed to help state governments deliver these funds more efficiently. But the pandemic scrambled the economics of these programs.

A handful of snafus, some a decade old, shouldn’t tar an entire line of payment products that are a lifeline for many consumers and have helped millions of Americans access and manage their finances during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stored-value cards are growing in popularity with underbanked gig workers who need an easier way to get paid as well as with younger consumers in Canada who have traditional bank accounts but prefer the cards for e-commerce transactions.

Changing the retailer's prepaid card into a demand deposit account gives customers access to more digital banking tools.

Bank of America was ordered by a judge to change its practices after thousands of unemployed California customers receiving public benefits complained that when their prepaid debit cards were hacked, the bank made matters worse by treating them like criminals.

Integrated payments provider Financial Software and Systems is targeting the expected increase in international travelers as the pandemic eases by enabling issuers to provide branded programs on FSS' prepaid multi-currency card.

Gift card giant Blackhawk Network has partnered with Bakkt, which offers an app to manage various digital currencies.

The drugstore chain will debut a new bank account for customers that will offer rewards tied to its loyalty program.

Prepaid customers’ COVID relief spending boosted the bank’s bottom line in 2020, but executives don't count on a repeat performance.

Prepaid customers’ COVID relief spending boosted the bank’s bottom line in 2020, but executives don't count on a repeat performance.

The Treasury Department and IRS are sending out approximately 8 million Visa prepaid cards to deliver a second round of Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) to consumers.

In launching its new challenger bank brand, GO2bank, to take on Chime and others, Green Dot has taken the opportunity to lower the barrier to obtaining a secured card for the underserved.

Michael Moeser, senior analyst at PaymentsSource, talks to Jennifer Philo, group vice president of U.S. commerce at Blackhawk Network, about the ways the global pandemic has transformed the use cases for gift cards, prepaid cards and loyalty products the company supports.

Consumers avoiding stores because of COVID-19 have driven triple-digit sales growth of Blackhawk’s digital gift cards sold through retailers’ websites, with the final weeks of the year expected to push digital cards to a tipping point.

Michael Moeser, senior analyst at PaymentsSource, talks to Brandon Thompson, EVP at Green Dot, about the drastic changes its audience has faced over the course of 2020.

Securus Technologies and JPay are launching a general-purpose reloadable prepaid card that will include access to various financial services and money transfer capabilities, as well as benefits for families handling finances of a loved one currently incarcerated.