Prepaid cards

A Virginia congressman is seeking a law that would provide consumers with prepaid card fee disclosures they can easily understand. But the industry doesn't operate in a one-size-fits-all manner.

Retailers are being inventive in their use of prepaid cards and mobile wallets to improve their store loyalty programs. Many are learning to use payments technology in ways that may change the way banks view their partnerships with merchants.

TD Bank is launching a new prepaid card to let parents monitor their teens' spending while easing young adults into financial independence.

Better ATM Services plans to distribute its ATM-issued prepaid Visa cards through Advanced Network Inc.'s customers.

Walgreen Co. plans to expand the payments features of its combined loyalty and prepaid MasterCard, Balance Financial, with the goal of making it the preferred financial product of its underbanked customers.

SmartMetric Inc. is launching a Bitcoin card protected with biometric fingerprint authentication. The card can be used as offline storage for bitcoins, but in the future it might also be used for payment.

The Washington, D.C. Metro transportation system says it will test new electronic fare equipment after completing a deal with Accenture to replace older systems.

JPMorgan Chase is seeking a buyer for its corporate payroll, tax refund and health-savings prepaid card business.

Western Union Co. and Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank have launched a global money transfer and bill payment service that will also allow customers to send money to load prepaid cards and pay bills at more than 1,500 bank agent location in the southeastern U.S.

Mercury Payment Systems LLC plans to upgrade its closed-loop gift card system so that any small to mid-size merchant can offer gift, loyalty and reloadable prepaid options to customers in one card.

Financial services provider UniRush, the company behind the prepaid Visa RushCard, has appointed Rick Savard chairman and CEO.

Starbucks has begun offering gift cards at certain locations in Mainland China, with designs meant to evoke the Lunar New Year.

While most gift cards are still made of plastic, digital cards are increasing in popularity among consumers because of the many options to customize the cards.

The Coinstar brand has long been associated with spare change, but for Blackhawk it's the key to a diversified strategy for prepaid products and a catalyst for mobile wallet adoption.

Target Corp., less than two weeks after disclosing a security breach of its credit- and debit-card system, said some customers have been unable to use its gift cards because they weren't fully activated.

Google Wallet users who request the accompanying plastic card can activate that card through the wallet's mobile app, a process that will become increasingly common as mobile payments advance, experts say.

Epay, a prepaid product provider and distribution network, is now offering its digital gift card through PayPal's Digital Gift store, which launched in early December.

MasterCard is tightening the screws around the use of prepaid cards as a way to pay employees. Some issuers will find its demands are straightforward and achievable; others may consider discontinuing the product.

Prepaid payment network Blackhawk is offering a selection of electronic gift codes at Coinstar's coin-counting kiosks.

MasterCard released new standards that require companies that use payroll cards to provide educational resources, increased fee transparency and allow free access account information.