ICC UnionPay
Jordan’s International Cards Company (ICC) has inked a deal to issue UnionPay cards next year. This is the first UnionPay card in Jordan.
SESAMES Awards
The 20th annual SESAMES Awards, which rewards the best innovations in the fields of secure payment solutions, identification and mobility. During this year’s CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS event, 11 winners have been awarded.
Day of Peace
MasterCard is actively involved in the International Day of Peace for today September 21st. Many companies are donating television and digital media channels to drive support for the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the frontline agency fighting hunger.
Doha Bank & CUP
Qatar’s Doha Bank and China UnionPay inked a deal for the issuance of the first UnionPay card. Doha Bank, holding one-fourth market share, is one of the top merchant acquirers in Qatar.
MasterCard and UN Launch eFood Voucher
As part of its massive humanitarian response to the Syrian crisis, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is rolling out an innovative electronic voucher programme in Lebanon that will allow hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees to meet their food needs and help boost the local economy. By the year’s end, some 800,000 refugees will be using these electronic cards – or “e-cards” – at participating shops in Lebanon under an initiative realized with the technical support of WFP’s private sector partner, MasterCard. The e-card collaboration is part of a larger, multi-year partnership with MasterCard, launched in September 2012. It twins MasterCard’s prowess in electronic payments systems with WFP’s vast experience assisting the planet’s hungriest and most vulnerable people.
Over 2.5 Million MasterCard Debit Cards Issued for Social Welfare
More than 2.5 million South African Social Security Agency MasterCard debit cards have been issued to social grant recipients as part of the social grants disbursements tender which was awarded to Cash Paymaster Services (“CPS”) of Net1 UEPS Technologies. SASSA controls and manages the disbursements of 15 million social benefits to 9.2 million beneficiaries, who receive one or more of seven different social security grants on a monthly basis including: The State Old Age Pension, War Veteran Grant, Disability Grant, Child Support Grant, Foster Child Grant, Grant-in-aid and Care Dependency Grant. The biometric functionality of the payment cards identify social grant recipients using unique identifiers such as fingerprints and other personal information, which means that the payment cards cannot be used by any person other than the approved beneficiary to collect his/her grant.
Net1 to Conclude SASSA SLA Negotiations
Net 1 UEPS Technologies’ subsidiary, Cash Paymaster Services (“CPS”), commenced negotiation of the service level agreement with the South African Social Security Agency in terms of the award of the national payment tender. The parties have agreed to extend the final signature date of the SLA to February 6, 2012. Net1 provides alternative payment systems that leverage its Universal Electronic Payment System, or UEPS, to facilitate biometrically secure real-time electronic transaction processing to unbanked and under-banked populations of developing economies.
Citi Payment Service Expands to Cover Exotic Currency
Citi announced that its Global Transaction Services unit has continued to make enhancements to its “WorldLink” Payment Services capabilities for making payments in exotic currencies. The “WorldLink” service also developed its network to support current and future exotic currency offerings. These enhancements allow for significant reductions in settlement time, increased visibility of important transactional details and a reduction of volume capacity against exotic currencies. The controlled liberalization of the Renminbi (RMB) in 2009 by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) had been a long anticipated opportunity in the continued globalization of the world economy. Since then, the Chinese government’s continued expansion has allowed WorldLink Payment Services the opportunity to further develop its capabilities in making cross-border payments in RMB.
Citi Cards Donates AT&T Phone Cards To Military
Citi Cards is helping American troops abroad stay in touch with family and friends during the holiday season through its long-standing relationship with AT&T and is donating 100,000 AT&T prepaid phone cards. With an approximate total retail value of $700,000, each phone card will provide military members with 20 minutes of free international talk time to the U.S. from AT&T military calling centers in areas like Iraq and Afghanistan. The USO will assist Citi with the distribution of 70,000 prepaid phone cards during their celebrity entertainment tours and special events while Citi’s Military Veteran’s Employee Network will coordinate the donation of 30,000 cards to military personnel in the 1st Marine Division stationed in Afghanistan.
NUETS
Net 1 UEPS Technologies’ “Net1 Universal Electronic Technological Solutions”(“NUETS”) has received an additional $1.3 million order for 2,000 EFTPOS
devices for deployment in Iraq, of which it expects to deliver 500 throughout 2Q/11. The remaining 1,500 devices will be delivered in 3Q/11. The Company’s
UEPS system was implemented in Iraq and is used for the distribution and payment of government grants to war victims, government pension payments to
beneficiaries, as well as salary and wage distribution and payment to employees of the two state owned banks.
EPS
Net1 Universal Electronic Technological Solutions has received an order for a further 1.2 million Universal Electronic Payment System (“UEPS”)-enabled smart cards from the Iraqi Government. NUETS expects the delivery of these cards to commence towards the end of September 2010 at the rate of 200,000 cards per month. Since the project’s inception in August 2008, NUETS will have provided a total of 3.45 million UEPS smart cards to the Iraqi consortium for the distribution and payment of government grants to war victims, government pensioners and beneficiaries of the Ministry of Women affairs, as well as salary and wage payments to employees of the two Iraqi state banks. Over 1.5 million UEPS smart cards have been issued to beneficiaries to date with monthly grant payments reaching 600,000 beneficiaries per month, as payments are effected by Government on alternative months.
Chase Community Giving Launches Summer Program
Chase has kicked off its
Chase Community Giving Summer 2010 program on Facebook to award more than $5 million to be shared among 200
charities with grants ranging from $20,000 to $250,000. Chase Community Giving provides an opportunity for small and local
organizations to build awareness of their causes on a national level. The first Chase Community Giving program saw over
2 million users on the Facebook platform become fans of
the program and helped decide which, of more than 500,000 charities,
should receive a share of $5 million. More than 100 winners from 31
states were selected. Chase Community Giving is back again â and
improved. The number of charities eligible to receive awards has doubled
and several new tools have been introduced. The site for the Summer 2010 Program is live now and can be found at http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving. Charities can start
personalizing their pages and voting begins June 15. Winners will be determined on or around July 13.