FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2011
ABA Media Contact: John Hall
(202) 663-5473
E-mail: jhall@aba.com
Follow us on Twitter @ABABankingNews

WASHINGTON — Since launching the Community Bank Prepaid Program last fall, Business Solutions, a subsidiary of American Bankers Association, has built a turnkey, bank-branded, prepaid solution for ABA members.

Two of the first banks to sign onto the program – PlainsCapital Bank, a $5.3 billion bank in Dallas, Texas, and St. John National Bank, a $58 million bank in St. John, Kan. – demonstrate that banks of all sizes are attracted to this FDIC-insured product. 

"Regardless of size, banks see the landscape for payment cards is changing," said Bill Kroll, president of Business Solutions.  "Our goal was to make the prepaid market accessible to ABA members and their customers.  Many people already use prepaid cards as a safe, convenient alternative to cash, and the financial institutions offering these cards are seeing explosive growth."

Bank customers use prepaid cards to pay employees, support college students or help people using alternatives to traditional checking accounts.  Card users will no longer have to use expensive check cashing services or carry around large amounts of cash.  Instead, they will have cards that can be replaced if lost or stolen.

The Community Bank Prepaid Program was created with and is serviced by TransCard, a leader in prepaid card processing, and MasterCard. ABA provides Bank Identification Number (BIN) sponsorship to member banks.  All program operational support is handled by TransCard, with bank marketing materials provided by MasterCard.

The program offers cards that have 100 percent approval rate with valid customer identification and no risk of overdraft fees for the customer.  Prepaid cardholders can use their mobile phones to pay bills, check their balances, and receive text messages when transactions occur or their balance is low.  Other benefits include 24-hour, bilingual customer service and budgeting tools. 

About Business Solutions
Business Solutions, a subsidiary of the American Bankers Association, gives community bankers access to products and services on better terms than they could get on their own. By leveraging the collective power of ABA members, we offer significant savings through competitive mortgage lending, payments, capital markets and business banking solutions. Learn more at aba.com/BusinessSolutions.

About American Bankers Association
The American Bankers Association represents banks of all sizes and charters and is the voice for the nation's $13 trillion banking industry and its two million employees. The majority of ABA's members are banks with less than $165 million in assets. Learn more at aba.com.

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