11 May 2007
UK company Advanced Payment Solutions wins European MasterCard Customer Service Award
Advanced Payment Solutions (APS) has been named by MasterCard International as the top cardholder services provider in Europe in its 2006-2007 Prepaid Card Awards held last night in Prague.
APS, which launched the UK's first prepaid MasterCard in September 2005, won the award for its cashplus™ Gold Prepaid MasterCard card from a total of 250 prepaid card programmes operating in 14 European countries.
Chris Reddish, Group Head PrePaid Europe for MasterCard Worldwide said:
"Advanced Payment Solutions stands out by balancing being innately consumer led with delivering bottom line efficiencies consistent with the financial dynamics required by a prepaid programme.
"They have pioneered the idea of maximising cardholder services for prepaid consumers, while at the same time utilising technology and operational best practice to keep them affordable. Advanced Payment Solutions has contributed a lot to customer faith in prepaid products in its market."
Commenting on the award win, APS Chief Executive Rich Wagner said:
"We are delighted to win this award. We worked hard to give cardholders high load limits, more online account management control, international money share services and SMS account balance updates.
"The prepaid sector requires discipline, vision and experience to deliver high street bank standard services at low costs in order to sustain cardholder usage. We are lucky enough to have built a team that understands this better than most. We look forward to working with our cardholders to continue to innovate in this market."
Prepaid cards give consumers without bank accounts an alternative financial management tool which is proving to be invaluable for the ever increasing number of migrants moving between countries across Europe.
The MasterCard Europe PrePaid Cardholder Servicing Award is the second major award won by Advanced Payment Solutions for its prepaid MasterCard programme. Last year it beat Barclays Wealth, Birmingham Midshires, Barclays Bank of Kenya and Nationwide Building Society in the IFS Capgemini Financial Innovation Awards to win the most Innovative New Product in Retail Banking in the United Kingdom.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Sanjay Mistry
@ Public Relations
Tel: 0870 011 4716
Mob: 07810 368 772
Email: info@prlimited.co.uk
About Advanced Payment Solutions
Advanced Payment Solutions was established in early 2004 to become the pre-eminent leader of general purpose prepaid cards and payment solutions in the United Kingdom.
Its senior management team and board of directors have unparalleled experience in the prepaid and payment industries, bringing together experience from Barclaycard, VISA, Bank of America, Netspend, Virgin Group and easyGroup.
The company, backed by leading US private equity and venture capital firm Trident Capital, aims to lead UK prepay market growth to emulate the success of prepaid payment cards in the US where prepaid cards now make up a trillion dollar market.
APS' first prepaid payment card, the cashplus prepaid MasterCard, launched in September 2005, is the UK's first general purpose prepaid chip and PIN payment card. Cardholders can reload their MasterCard at over 14,000 Post Office® branches and some 450 retailers throughout the UK. Alongside developing its cashplus product portfolio, APS provides a suite of services for businesses wanting to offer branded prepaid products to their customers.
Consumer website: www.mycashplus.co.uk
Corporate website: www.apsgroup.com
Contact: info@apsgroup.com
cashplus is issued by Broadcastle Bank Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
cashplus is serviced by Advanced Payment Solutions Ltd which is a registered agent of Broadcastle Bank Ltd for this purpose.
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