22 May 2011
MasterCard and APS Financial Limited sign five-year strategic partnership agreement
Collaboration to develop innovative prepaid solutions with particular focus on SME market
May 2011, London, UK – MasterCard and prepaid card issuer APS Financial Limited have extended their successful brand partnership by signing a new five-year deal, which will see their continued collaboration to drive the growth of the prepaid market in Europe.
In particular, both MasterCard and APS see the small and start-up business segment as a key area for growth in prepaid, as it can speed up and ease the process of allowing a company to receive and make business payments. Many entrepreneurs and small business owners are put off by the time and effort needed to persuade a bank to allow them to have a business account. By contrast, a prepaid account can be set up online in minutes and they know they will not be refused at the end of the process.
MasterCard's Head of Prepaid Europe, Matt Lanford, said, "We're looking forward to continuing our decade-long brand relationship with APS in Europe. Working alongside partners such as APS, MasterCard has been instrumental in driving the steady growth of prepaid throughout the region, as consumers, businesses and governments increasingly recognise how this simple payment vehicle can be customised to meet their diverse needs. Our focus now is on marrying robust prepaid solutions with cutting edge technology to drive usage and acceptance."
APS's founder and Chief Executive, Rich Wagner, commented, "APS and MasterCard have a track record of innovation in the prepaid market and this partnership agreement will permit us to continue to pool our resources with the aim of launching new programmes and developing new products for consumers, business and public sector organisations".
APS was the first prepaid card company to achieve direct membership to MasterCard in the UK back in 2007. As an exclusive issuer of MasterCard®-branded cards this partnership has grown and strengthened, not least because APS is one of the UKs leading providers of payment solutions and prepaid cards.
Ends.
For further information, please contact:
Jane Lougher, Weber Shandwick Financial
Tel: +44 (0)20 7067 0745, jlougher@webershandwick.com
James Page, Weber Shandwick Financial
Tel: +44 (0)20 7067 0206, jpage@webershandwick.com
Doyel Maitra, Head of Communications UK & Ireland Division, MasterCard
Tel: +44 (0)20 7557 5033, doyel_maitra@mastercard.com
About MasterCard Worldwide
As a leading global payments company, MasterCard Worldwide prides itself on being at the heart of commerce, helping to make life easier and more efficient for everyone, everywhere. MasterCard serves as a franchisor, processor and advisor to the payments industry, and makes commerce happen by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, governments, businesses, merchants, and cardholders worldwide. In 2010, $2.7 trillion in gross dollar volume was generated on its products by consumers around the world. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network – the fastest payment processing network in the world – MasterCard processes over 23 billion transactions each year and has the capacity to handle 160 million transactions per hour, with an average network response time of 130 milliseconds and with 99.99 percent reliability. MasterCard advances global commerce through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro®, and Cirrus®; its suite of core products such as credit, debit, and prepaid; and its innovative platforms and functionalities, such as MasterCard PayPass™ and MasterCard inControl®. MasterCard serves consumers, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information, please visit us at www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.
About Advanced Payment Solutions Ltd (APS)
APS is the leading European prepaid card provider, with more than 500,000 cards issued and £500,000,000 million in payment turnover. Its flagship product, the award winning Cashplus prepaid Gold MasterCard® is the UK's first general purpose prepaid card for consumers and in the last couple of years APS has developed a growing interest among small businesses which now exceeds 2,500 who are utilising the benefits of the Cashplus prepaid Gold MasterCard to manage and control their business expenditures.
Cashplus prepaid Gold MasterCard cards are issued by APS pursuant to a license from MasterCard International Incorporated. MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated.
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