Less than two months following the initial announcement from partners Netspend, a TSYS Company, and United Airlines, the prepaid industry’s first air miles rewards card is now available online. Paybefore readers believe more prepaid providers will follow suit with air miles rewards of their own.
Netspend has launched a Visa-branded prepaid card that enables cardholders to earn miles good for travel through United Airlines’ MileagePlus loyalty program. The product addresses one of the main issues facing prepaid providers—long-term cardholder retention.
The New York Department of Labor has fired the latest salvo in the battle over the use of payroll cards in the state. The agency has filed an appeal that could jeopardize the outcome of a petition granted to Global Cash Card to revoke the N.Y. DOL payroll card regulations, which were due to go into effect March 7, 2017. At stake are rules that are considered so burdensome by the prepaid industry that—if restored—could force some payroll card providers out of New York.
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Facing charges by the Federal Trade Commission that Netspend deceived cardholders and denied or delayed their access to funds, the TSYS subsidiary agreed to a $53 million settlement, which consists of $40 million on deposit in customer accounts and $13 million in refunded fees. Netspend doesn’t admit any wrongdoing under the terms of the settlement.
Netspend has landed a 20-year prepaid industry veteran in Jeff Johnson to manage the financial services provider’s commercial prepaid channel, the company announced March 2. The freshly minted senior vice president for commercial prepaid will oversee Netspend’s programs for paycards, incentives, disbursements and awards, as well as the Tip Network, which serves businesses whose employees supplement their incomes with tips.
TSYS-owned NetSpend is negotiating with the Federal Trade Commission over the agency’s allegations that the prepaid provider deceived cardholders and denied or delayed their access to funds, TSYS Chairman and CEO Troy Woods told analysts this week in a fourth-quarter earnings call. TSYS also announced that NetSpend is working on diversification, including the launch of a demand deposit account later this year.
